


MEMORIALS 

OF THE 



OF* 

m\ gainh, 

IN THE 

KING'S TOWN AND PARISH OF 
IM^IDSTONE, 

TOGETHER WITH 

A LIST OF INCUMBENTS, CHURCHWARDENS, 
AND OTHER OFFICERS, 

FROM THE EARLIEST TIME, 
• I . JB& ; 



WALTER B. GILBERT. 




MAIDSTONE : 

WESCOMB AND SMITH, PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS, 
JOURNAL OFFICE, HIGH STREET 



1866. 



tV\ 



1 'OX 

ENTERED AT 
STATIONERS' HALL. 



to y ' 

HIS GRACE 

THE LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, 

RECTOR OF 

THE KING'S TOWN AND PARISH OF 
MAIDSTONE, 

THIS VOLUME, (WITH PERMISSION), 



' RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Introduction ; The Grey Friars ; Eminent Natives of Maidstone ; 
Hospital of St. Peter and St. Paul; List of Masters; Corpus; 
Christi ; The " Brambles ;" gt. Faith's Chapel ; Rectors of 
Maidstone ; Vynter's Chantry. 

CHAPTER II. 

Archbishop Courtenay ; Courtenay's Life ; Licence for the 
foundation of the College ; Dispute with the Bishop of Lincoln 
Death of Courtenay ; Courtenay's Will. 

CHAPTER III. 

The dispute respecting Courtenay's place of Burial ; The Rev. 
John Denne on the subject ; Discovery of the Archbishop's 
Eemains ; Courtenay's Monument ; The Epitaph ; Opinions of 
Antiquarians. 

CHAPTER TV. 

Conclusion of the Building of the Church ; St. Thomas a 
Becket's Chapel ; John Wooton, the first Warden ; Wooton's 
Will ; The Brass formerly on Wooton's Monument ; Monument 
of Sir Richard Woodville. 

CHAPTER V. 

Dr. Holond, Dean Field, Roger Heron, a Maidstone Chorister ; 
William Duffield, John Darrell, Peter Stackley, Robert Smythe, 
Thomas Boleyne, John Freestone. Dr. Lee— his Will ; John 
Comberton ; William Grocyn, the Patriarch of English Learning ; 
Grocyn introduces Greek Literature into England ; Grocyn's 
Friends— his Will ; Thomas Penyton ; Dr. John Leffe, the last 
Warden. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Two Maidstone Martyrs ; The Boxley Rood of Grace ; Council 
Order ; Dissolution of the College ; Spoliation of All Saints' 
Church ; The Wyatfcs of Allington ; Sale of Church Goods ; The 
complete Inventory. 

CHAPTER YIL 

Proceeds of the Sale ; Establishment of the Free School ; Sir 
John Porter ; Value, past and present, of the College Property ; 
Ten Pounds per annum allowed for the support of the Clergy at 
All Saints' Church ; The Altar of the Church ; John Day. 

CHAPTER Yin. 

The Maidstone Martyrs ; the Sentence of Condemnation ; 
Roger Hall's information to John Foxe ; Cardinal Pole's Visi- 
tation. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Return of the Exiles : Letter concerning the Curate of Maid- 
stone ; The Cnurch Organ ; Ancient Organs in the neighbourhood ; 
The Church Officers and their Stipends in the Year 1556 ; Agree- 
ments for the Erection of Pues ; Thomas Tymme ; Richard 
Storer. 

CHAPTER X. 

Robert Carr ; Fines for Dogs in Church ; Confirmation of the 
Church to the Town ; The Bells ; Church Fees in 16 18 ; Sir John 
Astley ; William Carr ; The Earl of Salisbury's claim to the 
Church ; Death of Robert Carr. 

CHAPTER XI. 

The Rev. Robert Barrell ; Corporation Orders ; Dispute 
respecting the Election of Parish Clerk; The Weekly Lecture ; 
Corporation Order ;- Petition to the Archbishop ; Customs in 
some of the Churches. 

CHAPTER XII. 

Thomas "Wilson, the Puritan Divine ; Wilson at Otham Sus- 
pended by the Court of High Commission ; Sir Edward Dering ; 
Daring's reception by Archbishop Laud ; Party feeling in Maid- 
stone and its neighbourhood. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

The Services in Wilson's time; The Free School, Wilson 
Troubles ; The Church locked up ; Andrew Boughton preached a 
Death of Wilson ; His Character. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

John Crompe ; The Commonwealth Registration ; Singular 
Names ; Itinerant Preachers ; Council Orders for Astley's 
Monument : Disturbances with Itinerants ; Reception of two 
Quakers in Maidstone ; Order against Intruders in the Church ; 
Order for a Bible ; Retirement of Crompe ; Something about the 
so-called Ejected. 

CHAPTER XY. 

The Rev. John Davis ; Church Inventory in 1667 ; A Gallery 
built ; The Rev. H. Lynde ; The Rev. Edward Roman ; The Rev. 
Gilbert Innes ; Alterations in the Church ; Sir Jacob Astley ; 
Innes' Letters ; Dispute respecting the Clerk and Sexton ; Indus- 
try of Innes ; His Death. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The Rev. Dr. Woodward ; Establishment of the Blue Schools ; 
The Rev. Samuel Weller ; A tire in the Church ; The Parish 
Library ; List of Subscribers ; Destruction of the Spire ; 
Erection of the Organ ; George Launders. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

The Rev. John Denne ; Corporation Order ; Riot at the Prison ; 
Consequences to Mr. Denne ; The Church Roofs; The Bells ; The 
Curfew Bell ; The Re-roofing of the Church. 

CHAPTER XYLTI. 

Re-establishment of the Evening Services ; The Church Roofs 
again ; The Archbishop's Chancel ; Death of the Rev. James 
Reeve ; The Restoration of the Church. 

CHAPTER XIX, 

Incumbents, Churchwardens, Organists, Parish Clerks, and 
Sextons of Maidstone. 

CHAPTER XX. 

Collections in the Church; Registers; Remarkable extracts 
from the Registers. 



lUBpmofialfs 

ot tfje 

(Jollpgief f %* JParisIj (J|uf r§ 

of 

1H ftrfnh. 



ERRATA. 

Page 9, line 29, for "charity " read t« Chantry." 
Page 62, line 16, the f and corresponding foot note has 
been misplaced. The f should have been placed after 
(i Barrett and Goare," page 64, lines 17 and 18. The second 
loot note on page 62 refers to this passage. 
Page 147, line 9, the date should be 1656, 



Jfilemonals of tf)e 

<ttollegtate antr ^arisf) (ftfjutcf) of 

&li Saints, JHaftstone, 



CHAPTER I. 

Earliest Period to 1395. 

Introduction ; The Grey Friars ; Eminent Natives of Maidstone ; 

Hospital of St. Peter and St. Paul ; List of Masters ; Corpus 

Christi ; The " Brambles ;" St. Faith's Chapel ; Rectors of 

Maidstone ; Vynter's Chantry. 



The early history of Maidstone, like that of many 
other old towns, is involved in much doubt and 
obscurity. Antoninus, in his "Itinerary," mentions a 
city of the name of u Vagniacae" — as stated, on the 
authority of Ninius, to have been one of the prin- 
cipal cities of Britain — and some ingenious endea- 
vours have been made by various local antiquarians 
to identify this with Maidstone, by showing the 
precise spot on which it was situated. It must be 
admitted, however, that a greater portion of the 
arguments respecting the identity of Vagniacse with 
Maidstone is founded, for the most part, on mere 
conjecture. In Doomsday Book our town is called 



Meidestane, and here commences the earliest known 
ecclesiastical history of Maidstone. In this venerable 
survey of the kingdom we are told that the Manor 
of Maidstone is a part of the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury's possessions, and no doubt it had belonged to 
them from a very early period. How it came into 
their hands, and became part of the property of the 
See, we have no means of ascertaining ; but it has 
been supposed that the Manor was conveyed to the 
Archbishops by one of the Saxon kings, before the 
year 800. 

For many years subsequent to the Doomsday 
Survey, in 1080, we have little information that can 
be relied on. There is, indeed, a legend that the 
Archbishops' Manor was alienated about the year 
1207, but this rests entirely on the unsupported 
testimony of our Kentish historian Phillipot. 

Maidstone must have been a place of some 
consideration even at this early period, as, out 
of three thousand students who left Oxford, for 
some reason not given by our writers — perhaps 
plague, or some other infection — many came to 
Maidstone; the remainder having migrated to 
Eeading. 

In the year 1240 we hear of the establishment of 
the Franciscan or Grey Friars in this town, who are 
supposed to have had their habitation at the east 
side of the top of Gabriel's Hill. Many remains of 
what at one period must have been a considerable 
building have been at various times discovered, and 



an ancient vault, or crypt, is even now in existence, 
which has been used as a kind of storeroom for many 
centuries. About the year 1670, this crypt or vault 
was rated at one shilling for the Parish Church 
assessment, but at this period there were more con- 
siderable remains of the ancient buildings in connec- 
tion with it. 

Archbishop Hubert, about the year 1200, endea- 
voured to build a College here, but as the Prior and 
Chapter of Canterbury were then a very powerful 
and influential body, and, moreover, exceedingly 
jealous, they managed to throw such obstacles in the 
way that the idea was reluctantly abandoned. 
Maidstone, however, continued to be considered an 
important ecclesiastical station, and it is known that 
some ordinations took place here in the year 1296, 
two in 1318, and one in the year 1320. 

The names of several eminent men connected with 
ecclesiastical affairs, and who were natives of this 
town, have survived, amongst whom we find 
Ralph De Maydenstone, who was consecrated Bishop 

of Hereford in 1240. 
John De Maydestun, Dean of Lincoln in 1275. 
William De Maydestone, Abbot of Faversham. 
Walter De Maydestone, a Canon of Christ Church, 

Canterbury, 
Radulphus De Maydestone, and Richard de Mayde- 
stone were amongst the earliest of our authors 
who have written works concerning the County of 
Kent. 



Thomas De Maydestone, a Canon of the Priory of 

Leeds in 1367. 
William De Maydestone was selected by King 

Edward I. to convey some important documents 

to Kome. 
Clement De Maydestone, a Priest celebrated as a 

transcriber. 
John De Maydenstone was Dean of Chichester in 

the year 1400. 

In the year 1244, or, as some maintain, 1260, 
Boniface, who was then Archbishop, and possessed 
of a more determined character than Hubert, 
founded a Hospital, or resting-place for pilgrims, at 
Newark (or the " New Work," as it was then called), 
dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. The fact of 
the neighbouring stone quarries furnishing excellent 
material for building purposes, perhaps had some 
weight in this matter. The quarries near the site of 
the Hospital had been worked from time immemorial, 
and the quality of the stone was much celebrated. 
Many old documents corroborate this fact, and we 
may mention, by the way, that much of the material 
used in the construction of Rochester Castle was 
dug from the Maidstone quarries in 1368. 

Succeeding Archbishops were liberal to this 
Hospital of St. Peter and St. Paul, and many acts 
of goodwill and beneficence towards it are recorded. 
Archbishop Reynolds, among other acts of favour, 
gave it the tithes of the churches of Lillington — now 
called Linton — of East Farleigh, and of Sutton, 



in the neighbourhood of Dover, Like most of these 
establishments, it contributed its share of usefulness 
to the times in which its lot was cast, but the par- 
ticulars of its government and regulations are now 
lost. A list of some of the Masters, however, has 
been handed down. They were — 

A.D. 

Robert of Bradegare - - - - 1282 

William of Maldon ----- 1326 

Martin de Ixing 1334 

Richard of Norwich 1350 

Simon of Bredon 1370 

After flourishing one hundred and fifty years, this 
establishment was absorbed into the more magnificent 
College of All Saints. That the Newark foundation 
was amply supplied with funds, is shown by its value 
on its suppression, namely, £159 7s. lOd. The 
buildings of this Hospital were gradually pulled 
down, with the exception of a portion of the Chapel 
which has been enlarged and elongated into the 
present Church of St. Peter's. Before its alteration 
in the year 1836, this portion of the Hospital of St. 
Peter and St. Paul had been turned into a barn, and 
was generally stored with agricultural produce. At 
this time it was about sixty feet long, and for many 
years had continued in a ruinous state. The 
Brotherhood of Corpus Christi was another ancient 
foundation of Maidstone. It was founded in the 
year 1324, and suppressed in 1547. Its revenues 
were £40 0s. 8d. This fraternity of Corpus Christi 



maintained a Priest to officiate at the dirges and 
masses for the defunct brethren, which were 
celebrated at their Chapel established in All Saints' 
Church. Their charity induced them to build alms- 
houses for the poor and unfortunate of Maidstone ; 
but after the Reformation these almshouses gradually 
diminished and faded out of remembrance. 

The year 1381 was an exciting one in the 
ecclesiastical history of Maidstone — the year of Wat 
Tyler's rebellion. During the riot in this town the 
insurgents broke open the Archbishop's prison, and 
released therefrom John Ball, a Maidstone priest 
who had fallen under the displeasure of the 
Archbishop, for irregular preaching and seditious 
doctrines. The Archbishop's prison at Maidstone 
was called the " Brambles," and Ball, who seems to 
have begun his irregular preaching so early as the 
year 1353. was sentenced about 1370 to perpetual im- 
prisonment in the u Brambles." After his release by 
Wat Tyler in 1381 he followed the rebels, but the 
disturbance being suppressed, Ball fled to Coventry, 
where he was taken and afterwards executed at St. 
Albans. 

Very few particulars are extant respecting the 
former Parish Church of Maidstone, dedicated to 
St. Mary, and which the present Church of All 
Saints supplanted ; but we may presume that it was 
of ancient foundation. It is supposed to have stood 
nearly on the spot where the present Church 
stands. Many circumstances have been discovered 



which would somewhat determine the site of the old 
Church. The churchyard and roadway towards the 
east once abounded — and, indeed, to a certain 
extent, does now — with old foundations. Many of 
these remains have at several times been taken up, 
and the material sold as old stone. The Chamber- 
Iain's accounts for the year 1 574 contain a payment 
for "fetching a load of stone from the Church 
yrd." In the year 1653 an immense quantity of 
stones from the churchyard, and some of them very 
large, were granted by the Mayor and Jurats to Sir 
Norton Knatchbull ; and still more recently, in the 
year 1792, as much as one hundred and fifty-four 
tons of old foundations were taken up at the east end 
of the Church, in consequence of the difficulty of 
digging graves, and sold to various persons for the 
sum of £14 18s. 9d. 

Some writers have suggested the old Chapel of 
St, Faith's as being the original Parish Church of 
Maidstone ; but we have very clear evidence, how- 
ever, that it was not so, for in 1545 it was main- 
tained in an important case, and without eliciting any 
contradiction, that St. Mary's — as it was named 
before the year 1396, or All Saints', as subsequently 
called— had always been the Parish Church, although 
in the College days this right was exercised with the 
permission of the Warden, and in this respect the 
arrangement was not by any means uncommon, as 
some Cathedrals are to the present day both 
Parochial and Collegiate. 



St. Faith's Chapel is not described as a Parish 
Church in early or more recent times, but simply as 
the Chapel or Oratory of St. Faith ; and in a deed 
executed in the year 1548, it is distinctly stated that 
St. Faith's Chapel and Churchyard belonged to the 
late College of All Saints'. A Chapel in those ages 
was generally supposed to mean an ecclesiastical 
building with somewhat fewer privileges attached to 
it than a Parish Church, such as not having the 
power to administer the Sacrament of Baptism, not 
being in receipt of tithes, ajid was in some way or 
other dependent on the Parish Church. In many 
respects they were the forerunners of the modern 
Chapels of Ease. 

The list of the Rectors of Maidstone, before the 
foundation of the College, is as follows : — 

William de CornhuU 1205 

Cornhull was consecrated Bishop of Litchfield and 
Coventry in the year 1215. 

JohnMansell ------- 1263 

Mansell was a great favourite with Henry the Third, 
and received the following extraordinary list of pre- 
ferments : — Prebendary of St. Paul's, Chancellor of 
St. Paul's, Prebendary of Wells, Prebendary of 
Chichester, Dean of Wimborne Minster, Provost of 
Beverley, Treasurer of York, Rector of Sawbridge- 
worth, Rector of Hocton, Constable of the Tower, 
Rector of Wigan, Chief Justice of England, Am- 
bassador to Spain, Keeper of the Great Seal ; and in 
an engagement between the English and French 



9 

forces at Tailbourg, took an important Frenchman — 
one Peter Orige — prisoner. Stow has an account of 
a feast given by Mansell, at Tothill Fields, to two 
kings and queens, with their numerous attendants. 
Seven hundred dishes were served at this entertain- 
ment. Stow remarks that " the like dinner had not 
been made by any chaplain before." Mansell was 
succeeded in the Rectory of Maidstone by 

Ralfe de Farnham 1279 

Nicholas de Knowle 1287 

Stephen Haselingefelde - - - - 1310 

Hugh Polegnini 1366 

Rob Sibthorpe 138] 

William de Tyrington - - - - 1394 

Guido de Mone 1396 

Guido de Mone — or, as he is sometimes called, Guy 
Mohun — the last rector of Maidstone, was a Preben- 
dary of Lincoln; in 1397 he was consecrated Bishop 
of St. David's, and died at Charlton, in this county, 
on the thirty-first of August, 1407. His funeral 
took place in the magnificent Church of the neigh- 
bouring Priory of Leeds, a building which, until the 
time of the Reformation, far exceeded some of our 
Cathedrals in size and architectural splendour, 
although now there is not a stone remaining, and 
the site itself a matter of conjecture. 

One of the very few particulars which has reached 
us with regard to the ancient Parish Church of 
Maidstone is the endowment of a Chawfey by Robert 

B /l 



10 

Vynter, in the reign of Edward the Third. The 
lands given for this purpose were in the parishes 
of Maidstone, Bergested (Bearsted), and Bokton, 
(Boughton Monchelsea). 




CHAPTER II. 

1395 to 1396. 

Archbishop Courtenay ; Courtenay's Life ; Licence for the 

foundation of the College ; Dispute with the Bishop of Lincoln ; 

Death of Courtenay ; Courtenay's Will. 



The credit of rebuilding the Church of Maidstone 
as it now stands is due to Archbishop Courtenay, 
who succeeded to the See of Canterbury in the year 
1384 ; and as Archbishop Courtenay was the founder 
of the Collegiate Church, and a great benefactor to 
the town, a slight sketch of his life will help us to 
understand his character, his portion, and the times 
he lived in. 

William Courtenay was born in the year 1343, at 
Exminster, in the County of Devon. He was the 
fourth son of Hugh, Earl of Devon, by Margaret 
his wile, the daughter of Humphry de Bohun, Earl 
of Hereford. Courtenay could boast of the most 
illustrious descent. On his father's side was the 
highest nobility of England, and from his mother he 
inherited the blood of the Plantagenets. Courtenay 
received his education at Oxford, and a pleasing 
feature of his residence there was the friendship 
commenced in that University, and which afterwards 
ripened into the strongest attachment, for William 
of Wykeham, so celebrated as a Bishop and Archi- 
tect. Courtenay's advancement in the Church was 



12 

rapid: he was Prebendary in the Cathedrals of 
Exeter, Wells, and York ; in 1367 Chancellor of 
Oxford ; in 1369 Bishop of Hereford. At the time 
of his elevation to this See he had just attained his 
twenty- sixth year, and a Bull of Pope Urban the 
Fifth was necessary to overcome the objections to 
his youth. This Bull names him as Master William 
Courtenay, Canon of York, and Bachelor of Laws. 
Six years from this time he was translated to the 
Bishopric of London, and in the year 1381 was con- 
secrated Archbishop of Canterbury, and created 
Lord High Chancellor of England. He was a 
liberal encourager to all good works in his diocese, 
but at the same time, like most of the prelates of 
the middle ages, very determined and jealous of his 
position. Lambard relates that Courtenay had taken 
offence at some of his tenants at Wingham, who 
" had brought him rent, hay and litter, to Canter- 
bury, not openly in carts for his glory, as they 
" were accustomed, but closely in sacks upon their 
" horses as their abilitie would suffer. Cited them to 
" his Castle of Saltwood, and there, after that he had 
" shewed himself as hot as a toast with the matter, 
"he first bound them by oath to obey his own 
" ordinance, and then injoined them, for pennance, 
" that they should each one march leisurely after the 
" procession, bareheaded and barefooted, with a sack 
" of hay upon his shoulder, open at the mouth, so as 
" the stuff might appear hanging out of the bag to 
" all beholders " 



13 

When Bishop of London, Courtenay and the 
Duke of Lancaster had a strong altercation, the 
Duke threatening to do everything in his power to 
humble the clergy. To this threat Courtenay 
replied, " I rely on no mortal man, but will boldly 
speak the truth in the name of the living God, in 
whom I trust ; " and at every period of his life 
Courtenay was evidently possessed of a considerable 
share of personal courage. 

Courtenay was a most liberal benefactor. He 
gave a thousand marks towards the building 
fund of Canterbury Cathedral, and considerably 
larger sums to Maidstone Church. On Courtenay's 
accession to the See he took Maidstone under his 
especial protection, and making the Palace a 
favourite residence, resolved to erect a Church and 
College which should be worthy of the high purpose 
to which it was to be dedicated. Accordingly he 
procured a license from the King, dated at Leeds 
Castle, in the year 1395, empowering him to convert 
the ancient Parish Church of St. Mary's into a 
Collegiate Church, and to appoint a Master or 
Warden, and Chaplains, with the other necessary 
officers. This document is as follows: — 

' 4 Ricardus Die gratia rex Anglige et Francise et 
dominus HiberniaB, omnihus ad quos prsesentes literae 
pervenerint salutem. Sciatis quod cum venerabilis 
in Christo pater Willielm. de Courtney totius Angliae 
primas, et apostolicse sedis legatus, consanguineus 
noster charissimus, devotionis fervore succensus, 



14 

cupiens intime et desiderans cultum divinum ampliare 
pariter et augure, ecclesiani parochialcm beatae Mariae 
de Maidenstone, suoruin patronatus et dioecesis, in 
quoddam collegium, nostra mediante licentia, erigere 
intendat et fund are. "Noa attendentes propositum 
ipsius archiepiscopi inhac parte meriioriuin et salubie ; 
ae debiie considerantes grata et laudabilia ac iiuc- 
tuosa obsequia nobis et regno nostro per ipsum 
arcbiepiscopum multipliciter iinpensa; voleniesque 
proinde, ac propter specialem affectionem quam ad 
personam suam, suis exigeniibus meritis, gerimus et 
habemus ; ipsum arcbiepiscopum super pia intenlione 
sua in praemissis favore prosequi gratiose ; et ut nos 
operis tarn meritorii praemiis partiuipemur, de gratia 
nostra speciali, et ex certa scientia nostra, concessi- 
mus et licenliam dedimus, pro nobis efc haeredibus 
nostris, quantum in nobis est, efclen archiepiscopo, 
quod ipse dictum ecclesiam paroubialem beat ae Mariae 
de Maidenstone de patronat u suo existentem in quod- 
dam collegium erigere ; et collegium illud de uno 
magistro sive custode, ac tot sociis capellanis et aliis 
ministris, Deo in eodem collegio servituris, quot idem 
arcbiepiscopus secumdiim discretionem suam melius 
videbilur expedire, fundare, facere, et stabilire valeat 
perpetuo, juxta ordinationem suam in bac parte 
faciendam. Concessimus etiam, de gratia nostra spe- 
ciali, et ex certa scientia nostra, etlicentiam dedimus, 
pro nobis et baeredibus nostris, eidem archiepiscopo ; 
quod ipse advocationem et patronatum praedictae 
ecclesiae parochialis ac capellarum eidem annexarum, 



15 

qui de nobis tenentur in capite, ut dicitnr, dare possit 
et assignare praedicto magistro sive custodi et sociis 
suis capellanis dicta collegii ; et suecessoribus suis 
magistris sive oustodibus ac sociis suis capellanis ejus- 
dem collegii, de praefato archiepiscopo et suecessori- 
bus suis, in liberam, puram, et perpetuam elemosinam 
imperpetuuni. Et eisdem magistro sive custodi et 
sociis suis capellanis, quod ipsi advocation em e^ 
patronatum ecclesiae pradictae et capellarum eidem 
annexarum a praefato archiepiscopo recipere, et ec- 
clesiam illam, cum eisdem capellis, appropriare, et 
earn sic appropriatam in proprios usus tenere possint 
eisdem magistro sive custodi, et suis sociis capellanis 
dicti collegii et suecessoribus suis, in subventionem 
sustentationis sive imperpetuuni tenore praesentium 
similiter liuentiam dedimus specialem. 

Concessimus insuper, de uberiori gratia nostra, et 
ex certa scienlia nostra, et licentiam dedimus pro 
nobis et hseredinius nostris eidem archiepiscopo, quod 
ipse hospitale apostolorum Petri et PauliNoviOperis 
de Maydenstone. ac omnia terras, tenementa, reddi- 
tus, servicia, et possessiones ejusclem hospitalis, cum 
pertinentiis ; necnon advocationis et patronatus 
ecclesiarum de Suttone, Lillintone, et l.^arlegh dicto 
hospitali appropriatarum, de patronatu nostro exis- 
tentium ; qua3 quidem hospitale, advocatio, et patro- 
natus de nobis similiter tenetur in capite, ut dicitur, 
dare possit et assignare prsedictis magistro sive 
custodi, et sociis suis capellanis dicti collegii; ha- 
benda et tenenda sibi et suecessoribus, de praedicto 



16 . 

archiepiscopo et successoribus suis, in liberam, 
puram, et perpetuam elemosinam imperpetuum. Et 
similiter quod idem archiepiscopus praedictum hos- 
pitale, ac omnia terras, tenementa, redditus, servicia, 
et possessiones ejusdem hospitalis, cum pertinentiis, 
praefatis magistro sive custodi, et sociis suis capella- 
nis, ac collegio praedicto, in majorem subventionem 
eorundem, unire, incorporare, et annectere valeat. 
Quodque dictae ecclesiae de Suttone, Lillintone, et 
Farleghe licite transferri valeant in et ad praedictos 
magistrum sive custodem, et socios suos capellanos, 
ac collegio praedicto melioribus modo et forma 
quibus fieri poterit imperpetuum; seu alias quod 
unio, appropriatio, et incorporatio dictarem ecclesi- 
arum de Suttone, Lillintone, Farlegh, terrarum, 
tenementorum, reddituum, serviciorum, et posses- 
sionum bospitalis praedicti eidem hospitali antea 
factae penitus dissolvantur, et praedictis magistro 
sive custodi et sociis suis capellanis dicti collegii et 
successoribus suis, ac collegio praedicto de novo 
approprientur, amortizentur, uniantur, et incorpo- 
rentur ; habenda in eorum proprios usus juxta ordi- 
nationem ipsus archiepiscopi* in bac parte similiter 
faciendam imperpetuum. 

Et eisdem magistro sive custodi, et sociis suis 
capellanis dicti collegii, quod ipsi dictum hospitale, 
ac omnia terras, tenementa, redditus, servicia, et 
possessiones ejusdem cum pertinentiis, ac advoca- 
tions dictarum ecclesiarum de Suttone, Lillintone, 
et Farleghe a praefato archiepiscopo in forma prae- 



17 

dica recipere : et hospitale prasdictum, ac terras 
tenementa, redditus, servicia, et possessiones hujus- 
modi cum pertinentiis, ac ecclesias illas hospitali 
praedicto sic unita, annexa, translata, et incorporata, 
sive easdem ecclesias de novo incorporatas, sibi et 
successoribus suis in proprios usus habere et tenere 
valeant iinperpetuum, sicut praedictum est, similiter 
licentiam dedimus per praesentes ; dum tamen elemo- 
sinae pauperibus in hospitali praedicto solvi consuetae 
ibidem futuris temporibus continue sustententur ; 
statuto de terris et tenementis ad manum mortuam 
non ponendis edito, aut quibuscunque aliis statutis 
in contrarium editis ; seu eo quod advocationes seu 
patronatus dictarum ecclesiae parochialis de May- 
denestone et capellarum eidem annex arum ; ac 
dictarum ecclesiarum de Suttone, Lillmtone, et 
Farleghe sint parcelia fundationis archiepiscopatus 
praedicti, aut parcelia temporalium ejusdem archie- 
piscopatus, de fundatione progenitorum nostrorum 
quondam regum Angliae et nostro patronatu exis- 
tentium ; seu eo quod advocationes et patronatus 
praedicti de nobis tenentur in capite, sicut praedictum 
est, aut aliquibus aliis praemissis, non obstante, &c. 
In cujus, &c. T. meipso apucl castrum nostrum de 
Ledes secundo die Augusti anno regni nostri decimo 
nono." 

Courtenay in order to defray the expenses of his 

various buildings, obtained a license from the Pope, 

which empowered him to tax all Church livings 

within his province, to the extent of fourpence in the 

c 



18 

pound. To this the clergy objected, and many 
remonstrances took place. The Bishop of Lincoln, 
who thought the proceeding very unjust, refused to 
authorise the collection of what he considered an 
unfair burden in his diocese, and appealed to the 
Pope to support him in his opposition. The 
differences were getting serious, and would have 
raised important questions as to the Archbishop's 
right thus to tax other dioceses. The matter, how- 
ever, came to an end while the appeal was pending, 
by the death of the Archbishop, who died of fever, 
at the Palace of Maidstone, on the thirty-first of 
July, 1396, at the age of fifty-three, and just one year 
after he had obtained the King's license to found the 
College of Maidstone. 

The Archbishop, at first, in his will, desired to be 
buried in the Cathedral Church of Exeter, where his 
father, mother, and other relations were buried ; 
but the codicil of this will is as follows : — 

" Revendissimus pater languens in extremis (28 
44 die Julii) in interiori camera manerii de Mayde- 
" stone. Voluit et ordinavit, quod quia non reputa- 
" vit, se dignum, ut dixit, in sua Metropolitina aut 
" aliqua Cathedrali aut Collegiatia Ecclesia Sepeliri. 
"Voluit et elegit sepulturam suam in Cimiterio 
" Ecclesiae Collegiatae de Maydeston in loco designate 
44 Johanni Botelere, armigero suo. 

" Item voluit, quod debita sua solventur, et quod 
44 legata sua scripta in testamento praescripto quoad 
a familiares solventur, quoad extraneos legatarios 



19 

" defalcarentur juxta discretionem executoruin suo- 
61 rum ; quodque residuum bonorum suorum rema- 
k{ nens ultra debita et legata, expenderetur juxta 
" dispositionem executorum suorum circa construe - 
"tionem Ecclesia Collegiatae de Maydeston." 




CHAPTER III. 

1396 to 1397. 
The dispute respecting Courtenay's place of Burial ; The Rev. 
John Denne on the subject; Discovery of the Archbishop's 
Remains ; Courtenay's Monument ; The Epitaph ; Opinions of 

Antiquarians. . 



Archbishop Courtenay, in the codicil of his will, 
desired to be buried in a certain part of the Church- 
yard of the College of Maidstone. The . fact of his 
being here intombed was apart of the history of the 
College before its suppression. It was so understood 
in the year 1555, and Courtenay's tomb is frequently 
mentioned about this period. In the year 1630 
Weaver saw the tomb, and copied the inscription, 
believing that he was here buried ; and on a monu- 
ment erected in the year 1642 it is expressly stated 
that the subject of the epitaph lies buried, " Next 
" unto the tombe of the fownder of the Church." 
Some writers, however, of the last century, — merely 
copying one from the other, and misled by Somners' 
mistranslatiou of the inscription on Courtenay's tomb 
— and a false entry in a Leiger Book states that he 
was buried at Canterbury. These assertions caused 
some inquiries to be made by the Rev. Samuel 
Denne — brother to the then incumbent of All 
Saints' Church, the Rev. John Denne— who wrote an 
account of his researches respecting the real place of 
Courtenay's interment ; and a paper, the result of his 



21 

proceedings, addressed to Richard Gough, who seems 
to have doubted the fact ofCourtenay's interment here, 
was read to the Society of Antiquarians in the month 
of May, 1788. As this paper is so interesting, 
we may be excused perhaps, in giving rather a 
longer extract than at first intended. Mr. Denne 
says : — 

In a codicil made July 28th, 1396, which was only three 
days before the testators death, Courtenay being then at 
Maidstone, and, as it is expressed, languishing and near his 
end, willed and ordered that as he did not think himself 
worthy of being buried in his Metropolitan or other 
Collegiate Church, he should be interred in the Cemetery of 
the Collegiate Church of Maidstone, in a spot, not as Somner 
has rendered the words, designed for, but according to your 
correct translation, pointed out to his Esquire, John Eoteler. f 1] 
But it is the commonly received opinion that the xlrchbishop's 
corpse was carried to Canterbury Cathedral, and buried 
within a monument fixed near the feet of Edward the Black 
Prince. To this, as the truest account, Somner acceded, 
u finding, as he says, in a Leiger Book of Christ- Church,, that 
u the King happening to be at Canterbury when the Arch- 
" bishop was to be buried (upon the monk's suit, it is like), 
(l over-ruled the matter, and ordered the body to be there 
"interred." [2] 

Somner having from memory cited a Leiger Book, I was 

willing to procure a transcript of the passage to which he 

had referred, and desired Mr. Hasted's assistance. Dr. 

Lynch, the Yice-dean, to whom he applied, very obligingly 

accompanied him to the audit-room; but their repeated 

searches were fruitless, for no Leiger Book was to be found 

among the archives of the Church of Canterbury. It at 

[1.] Sepulchral monuments. 
[2.] Antiquities of Canterbury. 



22 

length occurred to Mr. Hasted, that some light might be 
got from the catologue of the MSS., under lock in the 
library ; and in the catalogue he met with this article, 
Extracts from the Obituary of the Monks of Christ- Church, 
by W. S. (William Somner). The Yice-dean favoured him 
with the perusal of this book, and to his great surprise, he 
discovered in it the MS. he wanted, though so much mis- 
named both by Somner and the catalogue. It is a thin 
quarto in vellum, very fairly written, and intituled within the 
cover, Mo 1 chu! vivoru' et defunctoruu' ecclie xti Cant, ab anno 
Joh'is regis octavo usque ad annum, after which words there 
are three lines obliterated. On the cover is endorsed, 
JDominus Thomas Cawston Mochus huj ecclie fieri jecit ishu 1 
quarternu, anno d'ni, MCCCCLXXXVI. The MS. consists 
of three parts, and to the third part is prefixed, Nomina 
MonarchoriC Ecclie' Xti Cant sicut obierunU Mr. Hasted, 
found, however, in the course of it, minutes of the deaths of 
Archbishop Peckham, King Edward the First, Archbishop 
Wynchelsey, and of others who were not monks, and the 
first entry in the sixth page is as follows : — 

"AnnoD'iu MCCOLXXXXYI. ultimo die mensis Jultf 
■"fer* ij obiit recolende memorie D'us Will'ms Courtney, 
" Archieps .Cant, in man'io suo de Maydyston circa hora' 
" mona' diei' cuj' corpus fer'v sequent' delata est Cant.' et in 
" pe'lia Bicar, de regis incliti sec'di et mult' ru' magnat' 
" pl'aloru' comitu' et baronu' ad pedes D'ni Edwardi principis 
u Walliepatris p'fati D'ni Regis Ric. juxta feretru' Sti Thome 
" [3 J ex parte australi honorifice traditu sepulture. ' 

This entry, supposing it to be authentic, would 
at once terminate the dispute; but it is open to several 

[3.] By the injunction of King Henry VO., A. 3539, the name 
of St. Thomas (Becket) was to be expunged from all books. Can- 
tuar Sacra, p. 117. In the Cawston MS. Mr. Hasted observed many 
deaths and other incidents entered as having occurred on days 
dedicated to that imaginary saint ; and he noticed the title of saint 
being rased in every article except that which mentions the burial 
of Archbishop Courtenay. 



23 

objections. In the first place, the truth of it is ren- 
dered somewhat suspicious, because no entry of a 
funeral, marked with such a peculiar circumstance of honour 
as to be attended by the King and a numerous suite of 
nobles, occurs in "Dies Obituales" of the Archbishops of 
Canterbury, inserted in " Angli Sacra," v. 1, p. 61, from the 
obituary of Christ- Church,or in any register which the learned 
compiler of those volumes had examined, whose opinion it 
was that the Archbishop was really buried at Maidstone [4J : 
and of the correctness of Mr. Warton in this instance there 
is no reason to doubt. 

Cawston, by the title of the third part of his MS. denotes 
it be only an obituary of the Monks of his Priory ; and 
though Mr. Hasted found in it the names of some of 
Courtenay's predecessors, it is observable, that not one 
successor is mentioned ; and yet between 1396 and 1488, the 
date of the MS. there were five Archbishops, who were 
buried at Canterbury. [5] 

The conclusion of the article Courtenay, in his " Dies 
Obituales," p. 62, shews it to have been written not long after 
his death ; but the Cawston minute is clearly not a contempo- 
rary record. At the best it can only be a transcript from a 
more ancient register, and copied at the distance of almost 
a century subsequent to the fact it attests. It is also a 
private act, an ex parte, and that in a cause in which the 
Monks of Christ- Church thought their dignity was most 
materially concerned ; they claiming it as a privilege in- 
herent to their Priory, that the Archbishops should be buried 
in their Cathedral. 

From an apprehension, as it is likely, that Peckham had 
a design to be interred in a different place, Henry de Estry^ 

[4.] Cantuariae sepultum Godwinus scribit. Verms Mayden- 
stonee tumulatum esse patet ex codicillo, qui testamento sua 
annexus extat inter archiva ecclesiae Christi Cant. Ang. Sacr. 1,. 
p. 121. 

[5.] Arundel, Chicheley, Stafford, Kemp, and Bourchier. 



24 

the prior, and his chapter wrote a serious and most pressing 
letter to the Archbishop about three months before his 
death, in which it was averred that every Archbishop who 
died in England had from time immemorial rested in peace 
in the Holy Mother Church of Canterbury, a church more 
holy than all the other churches, and thought to be more 
illustrious by all the faithful. They reminded him that, 
when he last honoured them with a visit, he promised, as 
an increase of paternal consolation, he would let the bosom 
of his Mother Church be the place of rest for his body ; and 
they expressed their hopes and fervent wishes that, his senti- 
ments continuing immoveable, he would follow the steps of 
his predecessors. But, if otherwise, which they trusted would 
not happen, they bewailed the example that such an unac- 
customed error would be to his successors, and the reproach 
it would cast on the memory of the venerable fathers who 
had gone before him — an offence so intolerable, that it was 
decent and expedient to guard against it with all circum- 
spection. [6] Whatever might have been Peckham's 
intention, he did not mortify the monks by a denial of their 
request, for his body was carried to Canterbury ; but, as 
Weever relates, on the authority of a MS. in the Cotton 
Collection, his heart was deposited behind the altar of 
Christchurch Priory, in London. [7] This, if true, creates 
a suspicion that he had proposed being buried there, and 
that the Canterbury monks might be apprized of it. 

As Prior Thomas Chillenden was the first executor named 
in Courtney's will, had he been aware of its being the design 
of the testator to be removed to Exeter, he certainly, after 
the example of his predecessor, Hemy of Estry, would have 
expostulated with him on the impropriety of his intention. 
And, on the death of of the Archbishop, when it was known 

[6.] Wilkins' Concil II., p. 184. He refers to Regist. Hen. 
Prioris Cantuar. 
[7.] Funeral Monuments, p. 211. 



25 

that Canterbury was not named for the place of his sepul- 
ture, there can be little doubt but that he would, if it were 
in his power, prevent the introducing of a precedent so 
injurious to the right of the convent over which he presided. 
The King, we are told, ordered Courtney to be buried in his 
Cathedral ; it was likely (continues Somner) upon the suit 
of the monks. But as no such suit, or order, is mentioned 
in the book to which Somner is supposed to refer, they 
must be considered as mere conjectures of his own. And 
had the King given such an order, in compliance with the 
petition of the monks, is it not as fair a surmise that they 
would have taken effectual care to preserve it among the 
muniments of the church ? It may be reasonably supposed 
that the warden and brethren of Maidstone College would 
not voluntarily forego their claim to have the body of their 
founder interred with them ; and it may be also presumed 
that they would expect to have the King's pleasure signified 
to them by an express warrant from his Majesty, properly 
authenticated. But no such warrant has been found in our 
public records, and no copy of it is known to be extant in 
any register of Christchurch. Courtney's will is entered in 
one of the registers of that Priory • and in what book 
could it have been more properly declared that the obnoxious 
clause of the codicil, respecting the burial of Courtney in 
another place, was not fulfilled ? 

After some further remarks, Mr. Denne proceeds 
to say that Courtenay's 

" Tomb is a marble slab of the largest size, that had upon 
it not only the effigies of the Archbishop insculped in brass, 
but likewise an epitaph about the verge, inlaid with the 
same metal, copied in 1630 by Weever, when he surveyed 
the monuments in Maidstone Church. The three first lines 
of the epitaph are as follows : — 

1 Nomine Willelmus en Courtnaeus reverendus, 
Qui se post obitum legaverat hie tumulandum, 
In praesenti loco quern jam fundarat ab imo.' 

D 



26 

En rather seems to Mr. Gough to allude to the Archbishop's 
intention of being buried at Maidstone, without implying 
that his intention was fulfilled. From which interpretation 

I must take the liberty of expressing my dissent ; for to me 
the words en hie and in prcesenti loco appear to have been 
an equivalent to hie jacet. And en I conceive to be an 
address to the reader, not merely to survey the brazen 
effigies, but to advert to the form, the qualities, the prefer- 
ments of the great man represented by it, and in pursuance 
of his own direction here deposited, with the addition of a 
synonymous phrase, in order to establish a claim to that 
honour. And if such be the proper construction of the 
lines, they will, in the scale of evidence, outweigh the secret 
entry in the Cawston Obituary, because inscriptions on 
tombstones, partly on account of their publicity, have, in 
courts of law. been admitted as evidence in matters of much 
more importance than the present question." 

Mr. Gough and his antiquarian friends, notwith- 
standing this paper of Mr. Denne' s, still maintained 
their doubts as to Courtenay's resting place. A 
favourable opportunity however occur? ing in the year 
1795, it was determined to open the Archbishop's 
grave, an operation which was conducted by the 
Rev. Samuel Denne, the Rev. James Reeves, assis- 
tant curate, the Rev. Thomas Cherry, Master of Maid- 
stone Grammar School, and a few others taking an 
interest in the matter. 

The fruits of their labours are described as follows 
in a letter to the unbelieving Mr. Gough, by the in- 
defatigable Mr. Denne. 

"In compliance wiih your request I at length 

II transmit to you the promised notes with remarks. 



27 

" On opening the ground under the tombstone of 
" Archbishop Courtenay in the chancel of Maidstone 
a Church. The delay has been partly occasioned by 
" a willingness to learn from Mr. Cherry, who was an 
" attentive inspector, how far his observations con- 
" curred with my own ; and from the report, which is 
"confirmed by another gentleman who was present, 
"I may venture to assure you that the circumstances 
" are accurately stated. 

" As from the stones being raised a few inches above 
" the pavement a sufficient number of benches could 
" not be properly ranged for the accommodation of 
"the children of the Sunday School, it was judged 
" expedient to place it on the same level; and it being 
" necessary to take up the stone, in order to carry off 
" the superfluous earth, you will not be surprised that 
" curiosity should prompt to a deeper search with the 
"view of ascertaining whether the archbishop was 
" really there deposited as the inscription aided by 
" tradition, strongly implies, and it was the united 
" opinion of the examination founded on what they 
" saw that this was the case and, consequently, that 
"the tale of the body having been conveyed to Canter- 
bury by the Kings command, was fabricated by the 
"Monks of the Priory of Christ Church, for the 
u purpose of supporting, as they conceived, the credit 
" and dignity of that Cathedral. 

"Bones of persons of different ages lying in all 
" directions were found from one to four feet in depth 
" under the stone, and as in digging graves on either 



28 

u side of the stone, which has often been done, par- 
" ticularly on the north side, the earth from under 
" the stone had fallen in, and the vacancy been sup- 
" plied with mould and bones indiscriminately thrown 
" up. This would account for the position of such of 
" the bones as were not from under the stone ; but I 
" think those bones which were lying at a greater 
" distance may be fairly appropriated to the bodies 
" disturbed for the interment of the corpse to be par- 
ticularly described. Before the building of the 
" present Church, by Archbishop Courtenay, the site 
"of the west end of the chancel might have been in 
" the Cemetery ; though from the foundations of the 
" walls, not long since traced beyond the east wall of 
"the chancel, it is more likely that the chancel now 
a covers a part of the ground upon which a more 
" ancient Church was erected. 

" Till we came to the scattered bones, the earth 
"was of a loose texture, but lower it was more dense, 
"and at the depth of five feet six inches was dis- 
il covered a skeleton, entire as far as the ground was 
" opened, for towards the feet, especially on the south 
"side, some of the earth was not removed though 
" enough was cleared to allow any seeing the bones 
" of the leg and thigh. The skull, the collar bone, and 
" the bones of the arms and leg were in their proper 
" positions. Some of the ribs had sunk on the Ver- 
" tebrae, and appeared through their whole length at 
" their due distances. The Sexton, an experienced 
" man in this line, after repeated trials with his 



29 

" mattock, confidently asserted from the nature of the 
" loam, that the ground under the skeleton had never 
" been moved, and he observed that under the skull 
" in which the teeth were remarkably well set and 
" seemed to be complete the ground was hard and 
11 round as a bowl. 

"It is an obvious remark that this would have been 
" the last body interred in the grave, nor can it be 
" thought a strained conclusion, but this must have 
"been the skeleton of the person of whom the tornb- 
" stone, which had unquestionably covered the spot 
"for many centuries, was avowedly a memorial. 
" But it is further observable that the skeleton was 
" lying immediately under the portions of brass, with 
"which the stone had been indented, or, as Mr. 
" Cherry has well expressed it ; had a perpendicular 
" been droped from the centre of the efiigy on the sur- 
" face of the stone it would have touched exactly the 
11 corresponding part of the body there deposited. 

" Recollecting that Archbishop Wittlesey, who died 
" a little more than twenty years before Courtenay, 
" was not buried in lead as may be inferred from the 
"examination of his tomb in the nave of Canterbury 
" Cathedral, when levelled a few years ago, I did not 
" expect to see a coffin of this kind in Courtenay's 
" grave ; and perhaps you can show, for sundry in- 
" stances that in that age it was not customary to 
" enclose in lead the remains of persons even of high 
" rank. 



30 

" As to a coffin of wood, if any such there were, it 
** could have hardly endured a century upon this 
" spot. The grave of the Archbishop is clearly in the 
" higher part of the ground plot of the Church, where 
" the earth was observed to be very dry, and the 
" drier the soil the sooner the coffin decays. Some 
" coffins made of green elm, and deposited in this 
" churchyard in a moist place, have been found in a 
"high degre3 of preservation after forty years ; and 
"others, of dry elm, laid in dry ground, have 
"mouldered in fewer months; and with or without 
" a coffin of wood, in such a soil as this, after the 
" lapse of nearly four hundred years a Crosier must 
" have perished, nor could the Episcopal ring, of 
" whatever metal it might be made, have escaped a 
" total corrosion." 

Gough, who had been previously incredulous 
respecting the burial of Archbishop Courtenay in 
Maidstone Church, now recanted, and in his 
" Sepulchral Monuments," published in 1796, says : — 
" Archbishop Courtenay, who has a monument in his 
"Cathedral, was really buried in his Collegiate 
" Church of Maidstone, where his remains, only a 
" few bones, were seen lately," 

Courtenay' s monument was originally a tomb, 
upon which a magnificent Brass was affixed in the 
form of an altar, which it retained until the spolia- 
tion of the church during the civil wars. Altar 
tombs, having Brasses on their surface, were generally 
erected in honour of important personages, such as 



31 

founders of churches, or those who had been great 
benefactors to the edifices. A sketch was made 
many years ago, when the indents cf the slab were 
much more perfect than they are at present, and 
from this we are enabled to form a tolerable repre- 
sentation of the effigy engraved on the Brass. Mr. 
Boutell, in speaking of monuments deprived of 
Brasses, has remarked : — " On these despoiled stones, 
"the witnesses of that sacrilegious violence and 
11 rapacity in times past, a full atonement for which 
" we would fain anticipate from the better and more 
•'truthful spirit which now so happily has arisen — 
" on these brassless slabs it always is desirable to 
" bestow careful attention, with the view to gather 
11 from the remaining matrices that information 
" relative to their former occupants which, in a 
" greater or less degree, they are generally able to 
44 convey/' The dimensions of Courtenay's brass 
shows it to have been of a magnificent size ; it was 
eleven feet six inches long, and four feet broad — 
perhaps once as fine a specimen of this species of 
memorial as any known. 

The inscription on Courtenay's monument was as 
follows : — 

" Nomine Willelmus en Courtnaius reverendus, 
Qui se post obitum legaverat hie tumulandum, 
In present! loco quern jam fundarat ab imo ; 
Omnibus et Sanctis titulo sacravit honoris ; 
Ultima lux Julii fit vite terminus illi, 
M ter C nonus decies sextus sub anno,* 

* Weever prints this line as C, 'M ter C quinto decies nonoque sub 
anno ;" an older authority gives the version we have used in ths 
text. 



32 

Respice mortalis quis quondam, sed modo talis, 
Quantus et iste fuit dum membra calentia gessit. 
Hie primas patrum, Cleri Dux et genus altum, 
Corpore valde decens, sensus et acumine clarens. 

Filius hie comitis generosi Devoniensis, 
Legum Doctor erat Celebris quern fama serenat, 
Urbs Herdfordensis, polis inclita Londoniensis, 
Ac Dorobernensis, sibi trine gloria sedis, 
Detur honor digno sit Cancellarius ergo. 
Sanctus ubique pater, prudens fuit ipse minister, 
Nam largus, letus, castus, pius atque pudicus, 
Magnanimus, Justus, et egenis totus amicus. 

Et quia Rex Christe pastor bonus extitit iste, 
Sumat solamen nunc Tecum quesumus. Amen." 



This epitaph may be thus rendered : — 

" Behold William Courtenay, that reverend one, 
Who willed that here he should be buried, 
In this place which he had built from its foundations, 
And dedicated by honourable title to All Saints. 
The last day of July was the limit of his life, 
In the year one thousand three hundred and ninety- 
six. 

See what a man he was formerly, but now only this, 
How great this man was while his limbs were warm 

with life, 
The Primate of our reverend Fathers, Chief of the 

Clergy, and of noble race, 
So fair in body, and illustrious in understanding. 
He was the son of the noble Earl of Devon, 
A noted Doctor of Laws, in fame ranked high ; 
The city of Hereford, and renowned London town, 
And Canterbury, the three Sees, were his glory. 
Honour to the Worthy, he became Chancellor. 
Everywhere a holy father, and faithful steward, 



33 

Being Bounteous, Cheerful, Chaste, Devout, and 

Modest, 
Large hearted, just, a perfect friend to the needy. 

O Lord Christ, on this good Shepherd think, 
Hear when we cry, and grant him rest with Thee. 
Amen." 

In a volume of " Notes taken of Armes, Monu- 
" ments, &c, in several Churches in the County of 
" Kent," written in the year 1603, and now in the 
British Museum, mention is made of the monuments 
of the Archbishops and other eminent persons in 
Canterbury Cathedral, invariably stating that they 
are "buryed" there. But the writer does not say 
so in describing Courtenay's memorial erected in 
that edifice. His description is — " On the south 
" side of St. Thomas Beckett's shryne is a fayre 
tc monument of William Courtenay, Archbishop of 
" Canterburie, sonne to Hugh Courtenay, Earl of 
" Devonshire, with portrature, in his pontificals, 
81 with mitre and crozier, all curiously wrought in 
" alibaster. He dyed at Maydestone the 31st of 
" July, 1396 ;" and subsequently, in explaining 
Maidstone Church, he says : — 

" Bishop Courtenay, founder of this Church and 
li College, lyeth lowly buried in the Quire, with a 
" fayre flat stone." 

Weaver in speaking of Canterbury Cathedral, in 
1630, says :— 

"It was the custom of old, and so it is in these 
days, for men of eminent rank and quality to have 



34 

tombs erected in more places than one ; for example, 
as a proof of my speech, I find here in this Church 
a monument of alabaster at the feet of the Black 
Prince, wherein both by tradition and verity it is 
affirmed, that the bones of William Courtenay, Arch- 
bishop of this See, lies intombed, and 1 find another 
to the memory of the same man at Maidstone, 
wherein (because of the epitaph) I rather believe 
that his body lyeth buried." 

John Thorpe Esq., who examined Maidstone 
Church in 1695, describes the Choir, and says : — 

" In the middle Isle lyes Bishop Courtenay, who 
"built the Church." 

Moore, in his biography of Archbishop Courtenay, 
says that "Courtenay was buried at Maidstone, 
u according to a desire expressed in his will." 

These evidences are extremely valuable, as not 
being the opinions of men lightly given, but the 
deliberate belief of clever antiquarians who, living 
generations since, had ample time and opportunity of 
ascertaining the truth, and neither being connected 
with Canterbury or Maidstone, additional reliance 
can be placed on their impartial statements. 

In thus concluding the subject of Courtenay' s 
interment, we would add with regard to the Canter- 
bury Leiger Book insertion, concocted more than 
ninety years after the Archbishop's burial — that 
Monastic writers cannot be entirely trusted, as they 
generally wrote for the purpose of exalting their own 
religious orders or houses; and in the case of Maid- 



35 

stone, Canterbury had been at this period, and was 
for many years subsequently, exceedingly jealous. 
The original chronicle of some of these monasteries 
was at first a mere register of dates relating to facts 
which had fallen under their immediate observation? 
in time they would be re-written and invariably 
added to, and sometimes with great disregard of 
fidelity, and in nearly all cases with some ultimate 
object, as we may see in this particular case.* 

We will close the subject of Courtenay's inter- 
ment with some further extracts corroborating the 
fact of his interment here, and opinions relating 
to the monument erected to him in Canterbury 
Cathedral. 

Simmons and Kirov' s Historical Description, pub- 
lished in the year 1783, states that, " It is to be 
44 observed that all the bodies buried in this part of 
44 Thomas a' Becket's Chapel, or the Chapel of Holy 
44 Trinity, in Canterbury Cathedral, where (it is said) 
44 Archbishop Courtenay was buried, are not pro- 
perly speaking interred there, the Undercroft 

* A recent reviewer in speaking of ancient chronicles, says, — 
" These local chronicles form a separate and very important class 
of the materials for English history. Such works, however, have 
to be used with a certain distrust. They were written for a 
limited circle of readers, who would not criticise austerely any 
details which conduced to the glory of their brotherhood; and often 
they were even deliberately designed with the end of building up by 
degrees a body of counterfeit evidence to support unjust encroach- 
ments and claims. The soi-disant Ingulf of Croyiand's chronicle 
is now known — though apparently Savile and Spelman and other 
giants of antiquarianism did not know it — to have been framed 
with this dishonest object, and to be from first to last a monkish 
forgery, with its charters composed in the Scriptorium, its general 
history a patchwork of piracies, and its special anecdotes fictions." 
— Vide Times, Nov, 3, 1865. 



36 

"being beneath it, and consequently the above 
4i Chapel is built on Arches, and not suited for inter- 
a ments." 

From this extract we may safely infer that 
there is no vault under the monument in Canterbury 
Cathedral, and Woolnoth, in a work on Canter- 
bury Cathedral, published in the year 1816, says — 
" The humility of Courtenay, and his attachment to 
u a favourite residence, induced him to give direc- 
" tions in his last moments that he should be buried 
" at Maidstone, which desire, a late discovery of his 
" remains (of which there is an account in Gough's 
" work) proves to have been complied with. The 
" Monks of Christchurch, whether out of respect for 
"his character, or in order to assume the credit of 
" possessing his remains, erected a costly cenotaph to 
" his memory at the feet of the Black Prince, in 
" Trinity Chapel." 

It would form a curious subject for inquiry, as to 
whether Courtenay was assisted in the designs for 
the building of the Collegiate Church of Maidstone 
by his friend William of Wykeham. Courtenay and 
Wykeham, as before stated, formed a strong personal 
attachment whilst fellow students at Oxford, a 
friendship which terminated only with death. 
During the few years Courtenay held the Primacy, 
William of Wykeham was frequently in the neigh- 
bourhood of Maidstone ; and, as we are told by an 
ancient writer, that no great work could be accom- 
plished without his assistance, it may be just possible 



37 

that Court enay was furnished with his friend's ideas, 
and, perhaps, even plans for the erection of Maid- 
stone Church, which is built in that style so 
intimately connected with Wykeham, namely, the 
perpendicular. 




CHAPTER IV. 

1397 to 1417. 

Conclusion of the Building of the Church; St. Thomas a 

Becket's Chapel ; John Wooton, the first Warden ; "Wooton's 

Will ; The Brass formerly on Wooton's Monument ; Monument 

of Sir Richard Woodville. 



Courtenay was succeeded as Archbishop of Can- 
terbury by Archbishop Arundel. During his time 
the erection of the Church was brought to a conclu- 
sion, and the Collegiate institution completely or- 
ganised. The eastern portion of the South Aisle of 
the Choir was enclosed as a Chapel. In it Arundel 
founded a Chantry for one Chaplain, and dedicated 
it to St. Thomas a Becket of Canterbury. The 
duty of this Chaplain was to pray for the welfare of 
the King and the Archbishop during their existence, 
for their souls after death, for the souls of the 
parents and friends of the Archbishop, and all de- 
ceased believers. This act was dated in the year 
1406, and from the Rectorial tithes of Northfleet 
was appropriated the sum of £6 13s. 4d. per annum, 
for the payment of the Chaplain. 

We shall now give the series of Wardens of the 
College, in whom the management of the Church 
was vested until the Reformation. 

The first Warden of the College and Custos of 
the Church was John Wooton, Rector of Staple- 
hurst, and Canon of Chichester Cathedral, a personal 



39 

friend of Courtenay's, and also one of the executors 
of the Archbishop's will, and no doubt to his super- 
intendence is due the completion of many of 
Courtenay's plans with respect to the Church and 
College, and the share of duty appropriated to the 
members, which consisted of a Warden or Master, 
Vice-Master, Fellows, and other Officers, correspond- 
ing to similar establishments of which, at this period, 
so many were called into existence by the piety and 
munificence of our ancestors. 

In 1404 we find that the New Collegiate Church 
had acquired some note, as Richard Hugelet, of East 
Peckham, in pursuance of his last will, was buried 
here in that year, and in 1407 Alan Humleton, 
Rector of Rucking, was also interred in the 
Collegiate Church. 

Many Wills, also, of persons who had died in 
Maidstone and its neighbourhood about this time 
were proved and probate granted at All Saints'. 
Amongst others, probate was granted here for the 
last Will and testament of John Golde, the Priest of 
the Chapel of Longsole, and who was buried in 
April, 1406, according to his desire, in the Monastery 
of "B. Maria de Boxele," as the Arundel Registers 
describe this building. 

Wooton governed the College until his death, in 
the year 1417, and the following is a translation of 
his Win : — 

In the Name of God. Amen. On Thursday next after 
the Feast of St, Michael the Archangel, in the year of our 



40 

Lord 1417. I, John Wotton, Master of the Collegiate 
Church of All Saints, of Maidstone, and Eector of the 
Parish Church of Staplehurst, being sound of mind and of 
good memory, repenting my innumerable sins, the mercy of 
G-od going before me, and having been confessed, the Most 
High giving me a right Faith, firm Hope, and the Charity 
that is ordained, do make and order my will after this 
manner : — 

First, submitting myself a miserable sinner to the bound- 
less Mercy of Almighty Cod, the Merits and Prayers of His 
most Holy Mother, and of all the Saints, and the universal 
Church. To the same Almighty Cod I bequeath my soul, 
which He created, and dearly redeemed by the ineffable aid 
of His bitter Passion, and the Merits and Prayers of His 
most pious Mother, of all the Saints, and Holy Mother 
Church ; presenting my body for Church sepulture, viz., in 
the Collegiate Church of Maidstone aforesaid, in the place 
appointed, before the Altar of St. Thomas the Martyr, in 
the South Aisle of the said Collegiate Church. 

I forbid all pomp of obsequies, which is more for the 
benefit of the living than the good of the departed. 

And I will that only five wax tapers, the weight of each 
ten pounds, in Honour of the Five Wounds of 
Christ, be burning, with becoming furniture, in the obse- 
quies round my corpse ; one of which to be placed by my 
heart, to point my mind to G-od ; the rest to be burning 
about my corpse in the form of a Cross. And that twelve 
torches only be prepared, and borne before my body while 
it is being carried to the Church. And when my body has 
been deposited in the appointed place, I will that the said 
twelve torches be extinguished, and afterwards that they be 
lit at the Mass, and burn until the entire Mass is finished ; 
that they be then borne away with the funeral, in sign of 
Light Eternal, until my body be buried ; and afterwards, 



41 

that they remain with the wax tapers in the said Church, 
to the Honour of God, until they are expended. 

Item, I bequeath for my funeral expenses, on the day of 
my sepulture, and my month day, to distribute among the 
poor on the same days, forty marks, viz., to each pauper 
who comes, one penny, that they may pray for my soul. 

Item, I bequeath to the Altar of St. Thomas the Martyr, 
where I have selected my sepulture, one large missal, with 
one small missal, and my vestments belonging to the said 
Altar, with two Chalices, one silver Paxbread, and two 
silver Phials, one silver-gilt image of St. Thomas the 
Martyr, for the service of the same Altar for ever. 

Item, I bequeath to the Most Eeverend Father in Christ, 
and my lord, the Lord Henry, by the Grace of God, Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, my best silver-gilt cup with silver- 
gilt cover, with the arms of Courteney, and ten pounds. 
Item, I bequeath to the Chaplains, as well mendicant Friars 
as other Presbyters, celebrating a thousand Masses for my 
soul, and the Souls of all the faithful, on my month's day, 
four pounds, three shillings and fourpence. Item, I bequeath 
to each Canon resident in the Cathedral Church of Chiches- 
ter, to hold my obit, three shillings and fourpence. Item, I 
bequeath to thirty Yicars serving in the same Church sixty 
shillings, viz., to each of them two shillings. Item, I be- 
queath to the other Officials serving in the same Church 
thirteen shillings and fourpence, for distribution among 
them, at the discretion of the Dean of the same Church, 
that they may have me in their Prayers. Item, I bequeath 
to the works of the Church of Bukstede, where I was for- 
merly Rector, six shillings and eightpence, and for distribu- 
tion among the poor parishiocers there, six shillings and 
eightpence. Item, I bequeath to the work of the Church of 
Chorlwode, where I was formerly Rector, six shillings and 
eightpence, and for distribution among the poor parishioners 
there, six shillings and eightpence. Item, I bequeath to 
p 



42 

Sir G-eoffrey Maiston my best belt and one hundred shil- 
lings. Item, to Sir Richard Lentwardyn, my second best 
belt and one hundred shillings. Item, to Master John 
Hurlegh, one hundred shillings to perform my last Will, for 
his labour. Item, to Sir John Wotton, monk, my kinsman, 
forty shillings. Item, I bequeath to the Prior and Convent 
of Christ Church, Canterbury, ten marks. Item, I bequeath 
to the Prior and Convent of Leeds, five marks. Item, I 
bequeath to the Prior and Convent of Rochester, five marks. 
Item, I bequeath to Robert Wotton, my brother, one bed, 
viz., canvas, two blankets, one matrass, one pair of sheets, 
one coverlid, one tester, one seeler, three curtams with seven 
costers of pale, red, and black worsted, and my second best 
robe, with my second best cloak, furred with menever, and 
with one furred hood. Item, I bequeath to Marian, my 
kinswoman, one bed, and one surcoat, at the discretion of 
my Executors. Item, I bequeath to John Rede, Clerk, one 
bed, viz,, one canvas, one mattrass, two blankets, one pair of 
sheets, with one coverlid of red and blue pale worsted, one 
seeler, one tester, three curtains, with costers of the same 
colour. Item, I bequeath to John Bocton, my second best 
horse, with sufficient saddle and bridle. Item, I bequeath 
to Juliana Lavendre, one surcoat with hood, at the discretion 
of my Executors. 

I bequeath to each Chaplain serving in the Parish Church 
of Staplehurst, on the day of my obit, three shillings and 
fourpence. Item, I bequeath to my Clerk there, twenty 
shillings. Item, I bequeath to the Sacristan of the same 
Church, two shillings. Item, I bequeath for distribution 
among the poor parishioners there, thirteen shillings and 
fourpence. 

Item, I bequeath to the use of the said College my best 
bed of red worsted, embroidered with the wheels of fortune, 
with three costers of the same colour, to remain for the great 



43 

chamber of the said College. Item. I will that all my 
Executors, all the Chaplains, Clerks, Choristers, and all 
other the members of the said College be clothed in black 
cloth on my month day, at the discretion of my Executors, 
and for this I bequeath twenty pounds. Item, I will that 
one amice — my best grey one— with my best surplice, one 
furred hood, with one furred cloak, remain to the Master and 
Chaplains of the said College, for the use of each poor boy 
elected to the office of Bishop* in the said Church, on the 
feast of St. Nicholas the Bishop, as long as they last, in 
honour of St. Nicholas, at the discretion of my Executors. 
Item, I remit, release, and forgive, the Master, Chaplains, 
and Brethren, of the said Church, all debts which are due 
to me from them on the day of my sepulture. 

Item, to Sir Thomas Cok, Chaplain, one furred cloak, at 
the discretion of my Executors. Item, to John, my godson, 
son of John DeChambre, six shillings and eightpence. Item, 
I bequeath to Alice Wotton, my kinswoman, ten marks. 
Item, I bequeath to Master Henr} r Broune, ten marks. 
Item, I bequeath to John Blechyngle, ten marks. Item, I 
bequeath to John Knollis, the Sacristan, ten marks. Item, I 
bequeath to Thomas Cressyngham, one hundred shillings- 
Item, I bequeath to John Bottele, one hundred shillings 
Item, I bequeath to John Curteys, one hundred shillings. 
Item, I bequeath to John Leghtefote, Chaplain, forty 
shillings. Item, I bequeath to Joan, wife of Richard Eyre, 
my kinswoman, one bed and one surcoat, at the discretion 
of my Executors. Item, I bequeath to John Seyntned, 

* BOY Bishop.— It was a custom in mediaeval times for the 
Choristers to elect, on the 6th of December, one of their members 
to be Bishop. He was not only clothed in episcopal robes, with 
mitre and crozier, but performed all the functions of a Bishop, 
from the date of his election until Innocents' Day, the 28th of 
December. The Rev. J. G-regorie, Prebendary of Salisbury, wrote 
a curious and interesting tract on the subject of Boy Bishops some 
years since, on the discovery of a monument of a Boy Bishop at 
Salisbury Cathedral, 



44 

Chaplain, a grey amice, with one surplice. Item, I bequeath 
to Agnes, wife of Walter Fuller, of Maydeston aforesaid 
one surcoat, at the discretion of my Executors. 

The residue of all my goods, not bequeathed, I give and be- 
queath to my Executors, to distribute] in three parts for the 
good of my soul. Of which, one part to remain in possession 
of my Churches and Chapels, viz., Maidstone, Loose, Detling, 
Farleigh, Linton, Sutton, and Staplehurst. And the second 
part to remain to my brother John, Marion, and my kins- 
folk. And the third part, for distribution among the poor 
parishioners there, and my household, as shall seem most 
expedient to my Executors, as they would answer for it 
before the Supreme Judge. 

And to the faithful execution and fulfilment of this my 
testament, I ordain and appoint as my Executors, Sir 
Kichard Lentwardyn, Sir Geoffrey Malston, Master John 
Hurlegh, Sir John Seyntned, and Sir John Cooke. 

Wooton was buried, as he had desired, in the 
chapel of St. Thomas, and an Altar tomb was erected 
to his memory. The Sedilia and painting represent- 
ing the presentation of St. Thomas as a martyr to 
the Virgin Mary, was not erected until a much later 
period, and in order to give effect to* this work, it 
was found necessary to build a portion of the stone 
work on the north border of this Altar tomb, and 
thus covering a portion of the Brass. During the 
desecration of the Church in the civil wars the Brass 
effigy of Wooton, and the portion of border then 
visible, was torn away ; but the north side, consisting 
of Angels, &c, still remains under the Sedilia, the 
edges of which may be seen upon a close examina- 
tion. The inscription on Wooton' s Brass, rendered 



45 

into English, was, " Here lies John Wooton, Rector 
" of the Parish Church of Staplehurst, Canon of 
" Chichester, and first Master of this College, who 
" died on the 31st of October, 1417." 

The erection of the Sedilia over a portion of 
Wooton 1 s tomb shows us that the mediaeval Church 
builders were not possessed of many scruples in 
defacing or half- concealing any previous erection, 
provided it suited their purpose. 

On the north side of the Choir, immediately 
opposite Wooton's monument, was a similar Altar 
tomb, erected about the same period to the memory 
of Woodville, the father of Sir Richard Woodville, 
of the Mote, whose daughter was married to King 
Edward the Fourth. These two Altar tombs must 
have formed, before the erection of the Sedilia, a 
very important feature in the general arrangement 
of the Choir; but Wooton's, despoiled of its 
Brass, is the only one now remaining in its original 
position. 

Woodville' s tomb seems during the civil war ta 
have been especially marked out for destruction. 
Of this Altar tomb the slab, with a few indents, is. 
now the only relic. Fortunately, before the Great 
Rebellion, a rude copy of the brass was taken. The 
only portion of inscription then remaining on 
it was — 

"... Ad bona non tardus vocitando 
. . . . Namque Deo trino valefecit 

. . . . Decern 

. . . . Anno Milleno C. quater X." 



CHAPTER V. 
1417 to 1538. 
Dr. Holond, Dean Field, Roger Heron, a Maidstone Chorister ; 
William Duffield, John Darrell, Peter Stackley, Eobert Smythe, 
Thomas Boleyne, John Freestone. Dr. Lee— his Will ; John 
Comberton ; William Grocyn, the Patriach of English Learning ; 
Grocyn introduces Greek Literature into England ; Grocyn's 
Friends— his Will ; Thomas Penyton ; Dr. John Leffe, the last 
Warden. 



The second Warden of the Church and College 
was Dr. John Holond, who held the mastership two 
years, dying in 1419. Holond and the succeeding 
Wardens were elected by the Vice -Master and 
Fellows, subject to the confirmation of the Arch- 
bishop for the time being. On the Archbishop's 
approval being signified, he issued his mandate for 
the induction of the new Warden, which, if following 
the precedent furnished by other Colleges, must have 
taken place with much ceremony. 

In the year which witnessed the decease of Dr. 
Holond, one of the Deans of Hereford — Dr. Thomas 
Field — was buried in the Collegiate Church, contrary 
to the fashion of Deans of that time, who generally 
desired to be interred in their own Cathedrals. 
Dean Field however had so ordered it in his last 
will. No memorial of him is known to have existed 
m the Church ; but this will occasion no surprise 
when it is stated, that of the several Wardens 
besides others of eminence, belonging to the College, 



47 

only one memorial — that of Wooton — is now re- 
maining. There is, indeed, a tradition of a small 
effigy of a Priest having been discovered under the 
flooring of the stalls, about the middle of the last 
century, but this is missing. 

Dr. Holond was succeeded in the mastership 
of the College by Roger Heron, who is described 
as a Priest, the mandate for whose induction 
is dated from Rouen, in Normandy, August the 
7th, 1419. 

At this period the College possessed a great 
reputation for their musical services, and one 
of the singing boys of the Collegiate Church, 
having a very beautiful voice, was impressed 
into the King's service as a Chorister of the 
Royal Chapel. A Council Order, dated 1423, is still 
extant, in which this fortunate Chorister, "John of 
Maydestone," as he was called, with his five fellow 
Choristers, were each to be provided with " one gown, 
" one hood, one doublet, two pairs of linen clothes, two 
" pairs of hose, two pairs of shoes, a counterpane, a 
"tester, one pair of blankets, two pair of sheets, one 
" coverlet, and one canvas." 

"William Duffield appears as the next Warden. 
He was elected about the year 1430, and an Order 
of taxation in respect of the College of which he was 
Master, is preserved in the Record Office. 

John Darell, Duffield's successor, was elected 
Master on the 8th of July, 1441. The certificate of 
John Botle, Vice -Master, Richard Boys, and Robert 



48 

Florence, Chaplains and Fellows, dating the election 
from the Chapter House, Maidstone, supposed to be 
the apartment now used as the Parish Vestry Koom. 

Peter Stackley, L.L.B., succeeded Darell in the 
year 1444, and retaining the Wardenship for six 
years, was followed by 

Robert Smythe, Chaplain to Archbishop Stafford. 
He was elected in the same manner as his prede- 
cessors, namely, by the Vice -Master and Fellows. 

Smythe' s patron, Archbishop Stafford, died at the 
Maidstone Palace, in 1452. 

A curious will of Richard William, who died in 
1448, is preserved amongst the muniments of the Cor- 
poration of Maidstone. In this will Richard 
William desires to be buried in the Church of All 
Saint's, of Maidstone. The entire will is printed in 
" Antiquities of Maidstone." 

Smythe died in the year 1457, and in his will, dated 
September, 1457, desires that his body may be buried 
in the Collegiate Church, in the Chapel of 
St. Thomas the Martyr. He leaves his two best 
gowns, after the scarlet gown, to his mother 
Christina. To his sister Isabella, wife of Richard 
Smytheot, the two next best gowns. The best robe, 
that is, the scarlet gown, he leaves to Sir John 
Alaston, Chaplain of the Church of St. Vedast, 
London, to repay a sum of money owing by the 
testator to one Peter Skynner, of Westminster. To 
John Smythe, his bay horse. To Richard Smytheot, 
his dapple grey horse. To John Fordmylle, Peter 



49 

Fordmylle, and William Lane, the Bailiff of the 
College, he leaves a horse each, subject to the selec- 
tion of John Fordmylle. 

Thomas Boleyn, L LB., held the office of Warden 
from the year 1458 to 1470. The details of 
Maidstone history at this period are exceedingly 
meagre ; but we find in 1475 the civil 
government of the town received some altera- 
tion, and a Charter was granted by King Edward 
the Fourth, whereby " The Portreve and his 
" Brethren did bind themselves to keep good order 
"in the town, to the worship of G-od, to the welfare 
"of their Sovereign Lord the King, to his Council, 
" and all his laws, and to the welfare of the Lord 
M Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord of this 
" Franchise." 

Upon the death of Boleyn, John Freeston was 
appointed Warden, but he resigned his office the 
same year, and was succeeded by 

Dr. John Lee, who died in the year 1494. Great 
alterations are supposed to have taken place during 
Lee's mastership, in the various buildings connected 
with the Collegiate establishment. The Sedelia and 
Vestry Doorway ° have been named by competent 
authorities as being of this date, and their opinion is 
further coroborated, not only by its style, but also by 

* This vestry doorway was carefully cleansed from its many coats 
of whitewash during the restoration of the Church in 1848. It 
will scarcely be credited that it was recently found necessary again 
to disfigure this fine doorway by applying a miserable covering of 
pale wash. 



50 

the red and white roses which occur in the carvings 
on the Vestry Doorway — badges which were first 
used about this period. The money for the various 
alterations was procured by following Archbishop 
Courtenay's plan, namely, that of taxing the Clergy 
of the Province of Canterbury, which appears to 
have been successfully accomplished in this instance 
by the Archbishop, Cardinal Morton, assisted by the 
command of the Pope. 

The will of l)r. Lee was proved in the 
year 1495. In it he piously bequeaths his soul 
to the Almighty, and his body to be buried 
where it pleaseth God. He leaves some pro- 
perty situated at Sandwich to pay for Masses for his 
Soul, the Souls of his parents and friends, and also of 
all departed believers, these masses to be celebrated 
the second week after Palm Sunday. He bequeaths 
his lands and houses in Maidstone to the Master and 
Fellows, subject to the King's license, the conditions 
being that they and their successors shall cele- 
brate a yearly obit for the good of his 
soul, &c. To six Priests he leaves three 
shillings and fourpence. To the Priests of the 
Collegiate Church fourpence, To the Parish Priests 
fourpence. To the four Singing Boys eightpence. To 
the Custodian or Sexton of the Church sixpence, for 
ringing the fourth bell for the space of fifteen 
minutes. To thirteen poor persons one penny each. 
Should the College neglect the conditions of his 
will, he leaves his property to Christ Church, Canter- 



51 

bury. From other property he desires that ten 
pounds shall be allotted as marriage portions to five 
maidens of the town of Maidstone, in equal parts. 
After other bequests of a personal nature, he desires 
that Thomas Nicholl and Richard Arnet shall be his 
Executors. This will, now in the Prerogative Office, 
is supposed to be in Dr. Lee's handwriting. 

John Comberton (Professor of Theology) suc- 
ceeded Dr. Lee, as Warden, in the year 1494, and 
was admitted in the usual manner by the Archbishop 
of Canterbury on the fourth day of June, having been 
elected, nominated, and presented to the office by the 
Vice- Warden, John Freeston, A.M., and Fellows, 
according to the form of the College unanimously. 
Comberton died in the year 1506, and by his will 
desired to be buried in the Choir of the Collegiate 
Church. He left ten shillings for the iepairs of the 
Church ; six shillings and eightpence for mending 
the great bridge over the Medway ; ten shillings for 
repairing the road within Stone -street and Tovil ; 
six and eightpence for repairs to St. Faiths' ; four- 
pence to each of the lights in the College Church ; 
one pound six and eightpence for the expenses of his 
burial ; he orders Masses for his father, mother, and 
himself, and also for the Cardinal Archbishop. Forty 
shillings were bequeathed to Pembroke Hall, Cam- 
bridge, and twenty pounds — a large sum in those 
days — to the College of Maidstone. 

William Grocyn, B.D., who was born at Bristol, and 
received his early education at Winchester College, 



52 

was presented to the Archbishop for admission on 
the seventeenth of April, 1506. He had been pre- 
viously, in succession, incumbent of the parishes of 
Newton Longueville, Bucks ; Searle, Lincolnshire ; 
Depdene, Suffolk ; Shepperton, Middlesex ; the 
latter presented to him by his friend, Sir Bartholo- 
mew Read, in the year 1504. Some years after his 
appointment to the Mastership of the College, he 
was presented to the incumbency of East Peckham, 
but this preferment he resigned in 1517, on being 
presented with the Rectory of St. Lawrence Jewry, 
London. 

Grocyn is the most celebrated of the Maidstone 
College Wardens, and has been called the patriarch of 
English learning. He was, it seems, after leaving 
New College, Oxford — to which he had repaired 
from Winchester — further educated in Italy by those 
learned men who were compelled to leave Constanti- 
nople in the fifteenth century — Demetrius Chalcon- 
dylas, Politiano, Hermalaus Barbaras, with many 
others. Under these Grocyn studied, about the year 
1488, and on his return to England, in 1491, resided 
at Exeter College, Oxford, when he took the degree 
of B.A. Here he taught the Greek language, and 
on his appointment to tbe Mastership of All Saints' 
College, seems to have divided his time between 
Oxford and Maidstone. By Grocyn the Grecian 
literature and language was introduced into this 
country. Like most new things, its policy was much 
questioned, and the learned were very divided on 



53 

the matter. The University of Oxford was severed 
into two factions in consequence —the " Greeks" and 
the " Trojans." After a few years, however, other 
Englishmen translated some Grecian works into 
Latin, and Lilly, the author of the well-known 
grammar, and a fast friend of Grocyn, when St. 
Paul's School was founded, first publicly taught the 
Grecian language. Grocyn was on intimate terms 
of friendship with most of the celebrated men of 
learning of that time, amongst whom may be more 
particularly mentioned Dr. Thomas Linacre, born at 
Canterbury in 1460, the founder of the College of 
Physicians in 1518, and to whom is ascribed the 
credit of importing the first damask rose into this 
country. Grocyn also numbered amongst his friends 
Erasmus, who, on his visit to Oxford, resided in 
Grocyn's house. 

Grocyn died at Maidstone College in the year 1519, 
at the age of eighty, having been seized with the palsy 
in the previous year, during his usual visit to this 
town, and his will, which was not proved until the 
20th of July, 1522, is as follows : — 

" In the name of God. Amen. The second day of June, 
<' in the year of our Lord MCCCCCXIX., and the XI. of 
"Hen. VIII. I, William Grocyn, Clerk, Master of the 
" College of All Saints', Maidstone, in the County of Kent, 
" being of whole mind and in good memory, laud be unto 
"Almighty Cod, do make and ordain this my present 
" Testament and last Will, in the manner and form following. 
" That is to say, First, I bequeath and recommend my Soul 
"to Almighty God, my Maker and Redeemer, and my body 



54 

" to be buried at the Stall end of the High Choir of the 
*\ College of Maidstone aforesaid. I bequeath to my god- 
" son, William Lilly, five shillings ; to William Capper, my 
" god-son, twenty shillings. Item, I bequeath to Sir William 
6; Page, priest, upon condition that he will take upon himself 
" the oversight of the execution of this my present Testa- 
" ment and last Will, my gown of Yiolet ingrained, furred 
" with black. Item, I bequeath to Alice Linacre my scarlet 
" gown, with the hood thereto belonging, lined with sarcenet. 
" Item, I will that Thomas Taillour, my servant, shall have 
" to him and his heirs and assigns for ever, all that my 
" messuage or tenement, with the garden and other the 
u appurtenances set, lying and being in Stone Street, Maid- 
tt stone aforesaid, the which I lately purchased and bought 
" of one John Cleve. The residue of all my goods I give to 
" Master Thomas Linacre,f he to bestow such part thereof 
" for the weal of my Soul, and the souls of my father, mother, 
"benefactors, and all Christian Souls, as it shall please him. 
" The which Master Thomas Linacre, of this my present 
" Testament and last Will, I make and ordain mine executor. 

" And of the execution of the same, I make and ordain 
" the aforesaid William Page overseer." 

G-rocyn, with William Latymer, assisted Linacre 
in a translation of Aristotle, which was commenced 
but never completed. Other works, however, were 
finished by them, and Grocyn, with his friends 
Erasmus, Sir Thomas More, William Lilly, Dr. 
Thomas Linacre, William Latymer, and others of 
less note, were the shining lights of literature in that 
age. Several books formerly belonging to Grocyn 

f Linacre died October the 20th, 1524. The reason why Grocyn's 
will was not proved for so long a time after his decease, seems to 
have arisen from Linacre' s absence from England. Linacre was 
ithen travelling on the Continent. 



55 

are now preserved in the library of Corpus Christ! 
College, Oxford, and the British Museum. 

Thomas Penyton, A.M., was the next Warden of 
the College. He was elected in October, 1519, 
having been chosen according to the Statutes of the 
College. Considerable uncertainty exists as to the 
time Penyton occupied this office, the date of his 
death and other particulars respecting him, not 
having been ascertained. His successor, however, 
was 

John Leffe, L.L.D., who appears as Master in the 
year 1535, was the last Warden of the College. In 
his time those changes commenced which finally 
ended in the dissolution of the establishment as a 
Collegiate institution. Dr. Leffe, who was also 
Rector of Biddenden, was afterwards Vicar-General 
to the Archbishop, and Prebendary of St. Paul's 
Cathedral. He died in the year 1557, and is said to 
have been interred in St. Paul's Cathedral. 




CHAPTER VI. 

1538 to 1547. 
Two Maidstone Martyrs ; The Boxley Rood of Grace ; Council 
Order ; Dissolution of the College ; Spoliation of All Saints' 
Church ; The Wyatts of AUington ; Sale Of Church Goods ; The 
complete Inventory. 



But stormy times were advancing, and religious 
matters began seriously to occupy men's minds, and 
to prepare them for most important changes. Maid- 
stone had, previous to this epoch, seen two of her 
inhabitants martyred. Edward Walker, a cutler by 
trade, was burnt in the year 1511, and Thomas 
Hytton, a priest, after a long imprisonment and 
many torments, was burnt here in 1530. These 
persecutions were, unfortunately, common enough 
at the time. A terrible uproar was caused in Maid- 
stone in the year 1538, by the exposure of the 
Boxley u Rood of Grace." John Hoker, a native 
of Maidstone, has described this outrageous decep- 
tion. Hoker saw a figure, attached to a crucifix, 
"that sometimes moved the head and eyes, and did 
" bend its body to express the receiving of prayers, 
" and very impatient gestures were made at the 
" rejection of petitions." It proved a great source 
of revenue to the Abbey of Boxley, and had been 
in operation for many years. A Mr. Partridge, who 
resided in Maidstone, however, happened one day to 
see the mechanical movements of this curious im- 



57 

posture, and, on his report, it was immediately seized 
and brought to Maidstone, where it was paraded 
about the town, and publicly exhibited to the inha- 
bitants. It was then carefully conveyed to London, 
and inspected by the King, who ordered a special 
performance of its motions before the Court. After 
this, it was taken to St. Paul's Cross, its performances 
again repeated, and then burned ; a sermon being 
preached on the occasion by Bishop Hilsey, of 
Rochester, who, in 1535, had commenced a crusade 
against the practice of praying before images. 

The Chantries of the College in the Church were 
suppressed during the reign of Henry VIII , but 
the affairs of the College were evidently in a disturbed 
state, and we find the Archbishop, as yisitor, fre- 
quently called upon to exercise his authority. The 
following Council Order has been preserved : — 
1541. 

" At Hampton Court, the 15th of January, being present 
11 the Lord Chancelor, The Duke of Norfolk, The Duke of 
" Suffolk, The Lord Privy Seal, The Great Chamberlain of 
"England, The Earl of Hertford, The Bishop of Durham, 
" The Treasurer, The Comptroler, The Master of the Horse, 
" The Vice Chamberlain, Sir Thomas Wriothesley, Secretary, 
" Sir "Ralph Sadlier, Secretary, The Chancelor of the Tenths, 

" Whereas Robert Robynson and others of the town of 
" Maydeston, in Kent, exhibited unto the King's Majesty a 
"bill of Complaints against Doctor Leffe, Mr. of the College 
" there, and one Walter Herenden, 

" It was agreed that a Letter should be directed unto Sir 
" Thomas Nevill, Sir Thomas Willoughby, Knight, Thomas 
" Moyle, and Walter Hendley, Esquires, to repair forthwith 

H 



58 

" unto the said town, to examine the said Mater, and of 
" their proceedings therein to advertize the said Council in 
a . writing under their Seals, the first day of this next term, 
" in the Star Chamber at Westminster." 

It was evident that the College would share the 
fate of other religious establishments, and pass into 
private hands ; and at length, after a series of in- 
trigues, in the year 1547, being the first year of 
Edward VI., it was dissolved, and granted, with 
many of its lands, to Lord Cobham, through the 
interest of the Lord Protector Somerset, for the sum 
of £1,081 18s. Id.; th,} Rectory having been pre- 
viously granted to Sir Thomas Wyat the elder, of 
Allington, and re-granted to his son, the unfortunate 
Sir Thomas Wyat, in 1550, with the condition that 
Sir Thomas Wyat was to pay the salary of the 
Curate, or Minister, of Maidstone. How the Curate 
fared we shall afterwards see. 

The custody of the Church was now committed 
to the Churchwardens, and Visitors were appointed 
by the Crown to examine the Plate and other furni- 
ture remaining in the Church. The order stated 
that those things which were absolutely necessary 
for the Divine Service were to be retained, and the 
superfluous portion was to be sold, the proceeds to 
be put into the parish chest, for the use of the poor, 
the repairs of the Church, and mending the parish 
roads. 

The proceeds of the sale was, however, appro- 
priated to neither of these purposes. The greediness 
of the governments of King Edward and his royal 



59 

father, had appropriated everything of value, in the 
way of property belonging to the Church of Maid- 
stone, and bestowed them, as we have seen, on court 
favorites. The inhabitants of the town had certainly 
expected some share in this spoliation ; they had 
been given to understand that when the Church 
property was sold, there would be no need of further 
taxes, and also that some of the assets would be set 
apart for educational purposes. The Maidstone 
people, however, found that neither of these pro- 
mises were fulfilled, and wishing for a Free Grammar 
School, negociations were entered into by which a 
sacrilegious arrangement was made that the Church 
plate, &c, should be sold, and the proceeds were to 
be applied in purchasing the premises of the Corpus 
Christi Fraternity, which the government had a few 
years before suppressed, and appropiated the funds 
and buildings to themselves, without giving the town 
the smallest equivalent. 

It was arranged, after many struggles, that the 
Church of the late College should be used by 
the inhabitants for Divine service when necessary. 
It had always been the Parish Church, the Nav e 
being appropriated for the use of the town. The 
Choir had always been specially used by the College, 
and by them only. 

The sale of the Church goods now claims our 
attention. The three churchwardens, with James 
Busbridge, Thomas Bennett, William Tilden, Kobert 
Balsar, John Denly, Richard Hely, and other in- 



60 

habitants to the number of eighty, were em- 
empowered to "make sale of things mete to be 
" solde, to perform the purchase of the Brotherede, 
" and the lands thereunto belonging."* 

The inventory of the Church Plate, &c, at this 
time has never been printed in extenso. Newton, 
in his " History of Maidstone," contents himself with 
a portion of the list, and succeeding writers have 
followed him ; it is, however, here given entire : — 
"An Inventorie brought in the xiv day of November, 
" Anno R., Es. E. YIti, before the Kinges Majesties Com- 
"missioners, accordyng to theire commandement to V3 
"dyrected off all G-oods, Plate, Jewels, Bells and Orna- 
" ments, remayning, or dyd remayne in the Pshe Churche 
" off Maydestone sythe the first yeare off the reigne of the 
11 Kinge's Majestie that nowe is, King Edwarde ye Sixte." 
"By us, 

" Richarde Auger, Curate. 
"Nicholas Asten,"| 
" "Richard Nelson, > Churchwardens. 
" John Goselinge, j 
"The Inventorie of ye Churche Goods of Maydstone* 
" taken by thenbabytants of the same, the second daye of 
" Septembre, Anno. R. Rs. Edwardi Sexti, secondo. 
" Fyrst — Eleven Copes of Blue Velvet, embroider'd. 
"iii Copes of Ciimson Velvet, embroider'd. 
" One other Cope of Crimson Velvet, embroider'd very 
finely. 

" Five Copes of White Sylke, embroider'd, some of them 
very olde. 

" ii Old Copes of Blue Sylke. 
" iii Old Copes of White. 
" One old Cope of Red Sylke. 

"iii Vestments of Blue Velvet and partly Gold, suitable 
Prest, Deken, and Subdeken. 

*See " Antiquities of Maidstone," page 42. 



61 

"ii Vestments for Deken and Subdeken, of Red fine 
Sylke, branched. 

" iii Yestments of Red Sylke, suitable for a Prest, Deken, 
and Subdeken. 

" iii Olde Yestments of White Sylke, embroider'd, for a 
Prest, Deken, and Subdeken. 

" iii Other Yestments of old White Sylke, embroider'd, suit- 
able for a Prest, Deken, and Subdeken. 

"iii Other old Yestments of White Silke, stryped with 
Blue, suitable for Prest, Deken, and Subdeken. 

" ii Yestments of Blue Sylke for Deken and Subdeken. 
" iii Yestments of Sylke, suitable for Prest, Deken, and 
Subdeken. 

" iii Old Yestments of Red Sylke, suitable for Prest, 
Deken, and Subdeken. 

" iii Yestments of Black Saye, suitable for Prest, Deken, 
and Subdeken. 

" One Yestment of Pocock Sylke. 
" One other Yestment of Greene Sylke. 
" Old old Yestment of G-reene Sylke. 
" One Canopy cloth of Greene Yelvett. 
" One other Canopy of White Sylke, embroider'd, that was 
used to be hanged on the High altar, and also two Corteynes 
of Sylke appertaining to ye same. 

" Two Cloths of Blue and Crimson Yelvett, embroider'd, 
which served to ye upper and neyther part of ye High 
Altar. 

"Two Corteynes of Sylke which appertained to the 
aforesaid Altar Clothes. 

" Two other Cloths of White Sylke. 
"ii Altar Clothes of Red Sylke, which served to the afore- 
said High Altar. 

" Two Corteynes of Sylke. 
" iii Streamers of Sylke. 
"Two Cross Clothes of Sylke. 

" vii Pieces of Red and Blue Sylke being Altar Cloathes, 
and vi Corteynes of Sylke to the same. 
" One other vestment of White Dammask embroirder'd. 
" One vestment of Black Sylke. 

" vi Altar Cloathes of Red and Green Saye, and vi pieces 
of ye same sort for ye upper part of the Altars, and ten Cor- 
teynes to ye same. 

" Two pieces of Red and White Dammask that served to 
ye Lady Altar. 



62 

" ix pieces of Garnishing which served to ye Sepulchre, 
some be small, and all be narrow. 

" xi pieces of Linen, that is to say, Old Towels and Altar 
Clothes. 

" iiii Linen Albes for Children } - ,, ~, 

"iiii Linen Bodyes for Children j ^ the Choristers. 

" One Linen Towel. 

" iiii Linen Towels. 

" One old Towel. 

" Three Carpets, not solde. 

"In Latten* Candlesticks, and other lyke stuff of Latten, 
which cometh to ye wayte of ccc save x lbs., liiiis. iiiid. 



" Eemaining in the hands and costodye of William Collet, 
these thyngs next ensuing. 

"viii pieces of Linen Cloth (stollen in the 
Church). 
•p> ±±. x y ") " iii Vestments of Eed Yelvett embroidered 
±sarre .7 t suitable for Prest, Deken, and sub-Deken. 

Collet. J tt Qne y estraent of Blue gylke> 

" One Vestment of Eed Sylke. 

" One Vestment of White Sylke. 

" iii Yestments of White Dammask. 

" One Vestment of White Dormix. 

"ii Cushyons and one Pillow covered with 

White Sylke. 
" ii Pieces of White Sylke fore one Altar. 
11 ii Corteynes to ye same, 
"ii Pieces of Blue Sylke and Corteynes to ye 

same for one Altar. 
Barrett. "One Cope of Blue Yelvett, embroider'd. 

" One Cope of White Damask, embroider'd. 
"ii Copes of Eed Sylke. 
p ,, ") " ii Great Pieces of Linen for Lent Clothes, 

the one of them served before ye Eoode, 



} 



Gore. J y e other ca n e d ve Yeile. 

* Latten, a peculiar kind of metal, bright yellow in appearance; 
and. as the '* Bites of Durham" describe it, " glistening as the gold 
itself." A similar material is manufactured at the present day, 
but exceedingly thin, and its name corrupted to "Latin" brass. 

t The name of " Mr. Wiat" was originally inserted in the In- 
ventory, but it was crossed out, and Barrett and Goare substi- 
tuted. It seems that this memorial of the founder's piety was 
divided between them, Gore having the cross and Barrett appro- 
priating the foot. 



63 

"One Handbell. 
Barrett. " ii Copes of Red Velvett . 

" One Cape of Blue Sylk. 

" iiii old Copes of Red Sylk. 

u One Black Cope, with knobs of Gold. 
The Church. " One Hearsef Clothe of Black Yelvett. 

" ii Hearse Clothes of Silk. 

" ii Pieces of Red and Blue Save em- 
broider'd for ye High Altar. 

" iii Altar Clothes of Lynen, and one Piece 
of Hearse. 

" Two old Vestments. 

"iii Corteynes. 
Bought by \ " Item, in ye Steple, v Bells, and one little 
the Town. J Bell called ye Marrowmass Bell. 



" Certayne of the Church Plate of Maydestone received of 
Willym Collet, Sextyne, by ye Churchwardens and the in- 
habytants of the ye same, the xvii daye of Septembre, 
Anno 1548. 

lbs. OZ3. 
"Fyrst, ye grete PycksJ of Sylvar and Gylt, 

weyeng " vi v 

u Item, ii Basons of Sylvar and G-ylt, weyeng 

togethere vii ii 

" Item, twoo Sensers of Sylvar and G-ylt, weyeng iii iii 
" Item, one Crosse of Sylvar and Gylt, weyeng ... v i 

"Item, the Lesser Pycks, Gylt, weyeng i ii 

u Item, One Pair of Sylvar Candles'tycks, weyeng v xi 
11 Item, One Shype of Sylvar, with alyttle spone, 

weyeng i xv 

" Item, One lyttel Bell of Sylvar, weyeing o viii 

u Item, Two lyttel payrs of Cruetts, and one 

Senser Ryng of Sylvar o xiii 

t The Hearse was a canopy of wood, covered with wax lights, 
and placed over the coffin during the funeral ceremony. It was 
part of the furniture of every church. 

t The Eucharist was preserved in the Pyx, a kind of box, gene- 
rally round, in the form of a covered cup, and surmounted by a 
Crucifix. In some ancient Visitation articles, inquiry is made of 
the Churchwardens " Whether the blessed Sacrament of the Altar 
". —which is very God in form of bread— be in a honest and clean. 
•' pix, and locked according to law." 



o 

viii 



64 

"Item, Two lyttel Paxes|| of Sylvar, weyeing ... 

"Item, One Chalyce, gylt, weyeing 

"Item, One other Challess, gylt. weyeing 

"Item, One Chalyse, parcell, gylt, weyeing 

"Item, One other Chalyse, gylt , 

" Item, One Pounced Challess, dooble gylted .. 
" Item, Three Pypes, and two knobes of Sylvar 

" All this af orsaid was dely vered by ye sayd Wyllm Collet 
" unto ye Churchewardens, and other of ye sayd enhabytants, 
" in ye presence of Wyllm Crewe, Constable, Nicholas Mello, 
" Thomas Edmonds. Alexandyr Fysher, James Barrett, John 
" Smythe, Thomas Baker, John Lylly, Wyllm Kemp, and 
" Rychard Hock, ye writer thereof. 



" Certayne of ye sayd Churche Plate, havyng ye Founders* 
" Armes, wych remayneth in ye handes and costodye of ye 
" sayd Wyllm Collet. 

x, lbs. ozs. 

Barrett f-'Fyrst, One Crosse, with a Fote, 

and Goare ( beying gylted, weyeng viii iii 

p ("Item, Twoo great Candlestyks of 

1 \ Sylvar, gylt, weyeng ix v 

Coa J -^em, y e P a y re of Great Sensers of 

re ( Sylvar, and gylt weyeng vi vii 

Barrett " Item, One Great Paxe, gylt ii v 

■p. , .. (""Item, Twoo Cruetts of Sylvar, 

1 I and gylt, weyeng o xiii 

" And also remayneth in the hands and costodye of ye 
" say'd Willm Collet, of ye say'd Church Plate, ye Crismetory 
" of Sylvar and twoo Challyses. 

One of these Chalyses was afterwards stolen, and the 
" Chrismetory" came into the possession of Goare. 
-, . , (""Also one Holy water stoop of Sylvar. 
lyiaen. | weyeng ii vi 

|| The origin of the Pax is supposed to have been in very early 
times, when endeavouring to fulfil the exhortation of St. Paul, 
" Greet ye one another with an holy kiss." The Pax was an 
instrument, or image, which was first kissed by the priest, and 
then by the people assembled at the service. 

I 



65 

"Off all whiche goodes, Plate, Jewells, Bells, and 
" Ornaments aforesayde, certayne of them were sold to ye 
u use and purchasing off ye Corporacion off ye Towne and 
" Pishe off All Sainctes off Maydestone. aforesaid ; the 
"Brothered Haule, ye fraternitie and lands off Corpus 
" Christi, and off Sainct Faithes' Churche, and Churchyarde 
" wyth all and singular theire appurterances, to ye valew and 
"sum off cell 

" The more parte of ye residue of ye sayd goodes, Plate, 
"Jewels, Bells, and Ornaments, were delyvered into ye 
" handes and costodie of Wyllm Collett, as by ye inventorie 
11 aforesaide thereoff made more playnlye, dothe appere, and 
" ye said Wyllm Collet delyver'd parte of ye sayd goodes, 
" Plate, Jewells, and Ornaments unto James Barrett, Wyllm 
" Tilden, Thomas G-oare, and to others as hee saithe, hee will 
" more playnlye declare for hys dischardge befor yow, y e 
"Kinges ^Majesties Commissioners. 

" Also ther remayneth in ye Costodie of Thomas Haggard 
" and James Catlett, for a certayne pece of lynnen, called a 
" Yayle, and other thin ges xxs. xd. 

" Also ther was stollen out of ye sayd Churche of May- 
" destone by night, in ye ii yere of ye Kinges Majesties Eaigne 
" that now is, off ye goodes, Plate, Jewells, and ornaments, 
" aforsaide, One Challyce, One Cope, and other things, wych 
" ye aforsaide Wyllm Collett can more playnlye declare. 




CHAPTER VII. 

1547 to 1554. 
Proceeds of the Sale ; Establishment of the Free School ; Sir 
John Porter ; Value, past and present, of the College Property ; 
Ten Pounds per annum allowed for the support of the Clergy at 
All Saints' Church ; The Altar of tne Church ; John Day. 



The proceeds of the sacrilege mentioned in the 
previous chapter amounted to the sum of £220, the 
greater portion of which was applied to the purchase 
of the " House of the Brothers of Corpus Christi," 
in order to convert it into a Free School. The par- 
ticulars of this arrangement may be seen on reference 
to the "Antiquities of Maidstone." 

The College Church, originally established for the 
more complete performance of Divine Service, was 
now reduced to its lowest ebb, the daily service 
stopped, and being robbed of the property piously 
bequeathed for its support, the collegians sent adrift, 
the service was conducted by Ralph Pershall, one of 
the former collegians, Sir John Porter, the parish 
priest in the College time, and his assistant, Sir 
Thomas Pyne, whose stipend was £5 13s. 4d. per 
annum. Porter was also Minister of Crundale. 
Pyne died on the twenty- eighth of May, 1549, and 
was succeeded as Curate by Richard Auger, before 
mentioned. Some of the inhabitants who had re- 
tained a liking for the " old faith," as they called it, 
were scandalised by Auger being married, in Sep- 



67 

tember, 1552, to Chrystian Maylam, at All Saints' 
Church, by Porter ; a married priest being a novelty 
in Maidstone at this time, the Act permitting priests 
to marry having been passed in 1549. 

Sir John Porter played a most important part in 
the affairs of All Saints' Church during the latter 
part of the reign of Henry VIII., Edward, Mary, 
and a portion of Elizabeth. To Sir John Porter we 
are indebted for the first Kegister of the Church. 
The prefix of "Sir" to some clerical names was a 
title bestowed on the Clergy before the Reformation. 
Sir John Porter always signs himself "parish priest," 
but Pyne, the curate, merely denominates himself 
"prest." In the early part of Queen Elizabeth's 
reign, Porter had the misfortune to be included in 
the list of "Popish Recusants" by the Queen's 
Commissioners. This was probably owing to Porter's 
having officiated during the reign of Mary, which he 
had done also in the reign of Henry VIII., and in 
Edward's time. The Commissioners described him 
as " an unlearned priest," a character quite at 
variance with his known acquirements. He was 
ordered to reside in any part of the County of Kent 
— the City of Canterbury excepted — and always, in 
case of changing his residence, to leave the place of 
his abode with the Sheriff. Canterbury was denied 
to Porter because it was felt that a man of his abili- 
ties would be rather acceptable to a city which, at 
that time, seems to have had no great faith in the 
Reformation. After a time, however, when affairs 



68 

were more settled, Porter made his peace with the 
governing powers, and, during the latter days of his 
most eventful life, officiated as Curate of Loose 
until his death, which happened in December, 1562. 
He was buried in All Saints' Church. 

The property belonging to the College and Church 
at the suppression, brought in a yearly revenue of 
£212 5s. Od., amply sufficient in those days for the 
support of this, the largest collegiate establishment 
in the county. At the present time, the la ad for- 
merly in the possession of the College is computed to 
be yielding a yearly revenue of nearly £6000. Owing 
to the Church funds being alienated, the stipend of 
the Curates, on the death of those who were pen- 
sioned by the commissioners, was reduced to a very 
small sum, and many inconveniences were the result. 
It is even said, that at first, notwithstanding the 
condition imposed upon Sir Thomas Wyat, the 
clergy were dependant for support on the volun- 
tary offerings of the inhabitants. Ten pounds 
per annum were afterwards allowed by the Arch- 
bishop, who held the Rectorial tithes ; increased to 
twenty pounds in the year 1639, and has been 
further augmented at various times. 

Religious affairs were in a disturbed state during 
the first part of Edward the VI. reign ; the Old Mass 
Books, Breviaries, and other Bituals were used in 
the most promiscuous manner, even the use of the 
Pax was still maintained. In 1549 the Book of 
Common Prayer appeared, and all the Services were 
read or sung in English. 



69 

The year 1550 maybe remarked as the time when 
the altar of All Saints was taken down. Imme- 
diately under the east window of the Choir, and 
now or recently forming a part of the pavement, is a 
large stone, seven or eight feet in length, about three 
feet wide. At each corner, and in the centre, are 
faint marks of crosses. The stone is rather shattered, 
which may be accounted for from the fact of its 
frequent removals. These Altars, after being taken 
down by Edward the VI., were set up again by 
Queen Mary, and finally displaced by Queen 
Elizabeth in 1559. 

Archbishop Cranmer often visited Maidstone, and 
specially in 1552, when a sermon was preached before 
him in All Saints' Church by Thomas Cole, who had 
been elected the first Master of the Free School. 
The sermon was afterwards printed in octavo, copies 
of which are now very rare. It is entitled, "A 
" Godly and fruitful sermon, made at Maydstone, in 
"the County of Kent, the first Sunday in Lent, 
" 1552, in the presence of the Most Reveren'd 
"Father in God, Thomas, Lord Archbishop of 
" Canterbury, &c , by M. Thomas Cole, Schole- 
" master there. Prynted by Regnald Wolfe, 1553." 

Shortly after this Edward the VI. died, and was 
succeeded by Queen Mary. The Book of Common 
Prayer was set aside, and many of the clergy, who 
had not approved of the religious changes durincr 
Edward's reign, began to restore the old form of 
worship. Auger disappeared, John Day, a very 



70 



zealous priest, was appointed one of the Curates of 
All Saints', and in a short time religious persecution 
raged on every side. Those of the inhabitants who 
had been concerned in the late alterations, began 
either to make their submission, or provide for their 
safety in flight, as many of them had been remark- 
able for their zeal in the Reformation, and had at 
the very commencement of Mary's reign petitioned, 
and promoted petitions in other places, for retaining- 
the state of affairs as left by Edward. 




CHAPTER VIII. 

The Maidstone Martyrs ; the Sentence of Condemnation ; 
Roger Hall's information to John Foxe ; Cardinal Pole's Visi- 
tation. 



Now came a sad time of persecution against those 
who had embraced the reformed doctrines, and more 
especially against such as had been concerned in the 
College suppression. John Denly, one of those who 
had conducted the sale of Church goods, and had 
acquired some of the revenues of Gould's or Yinter's 
Chantry, made his escape into Essex, accompanied 
by John Newman, a pewterer, of Maidstone, and 
Patrick Packington. They were afterwards appre- 
hended, and ultimately suffered at the stake, Denly 
and Packington being burnt at Uxbriclge on the 8th 
of August, and Newman at Saffron Walden, August 
the 31st, 1555. 

These were not the only martyrs furnished by 
Maidstone and its neighbourhood in Mary's wretched 
reign. Walter Appleby, a linendraper, Petronil 
Appleby his wife, of Maidstone ; Mrs. Joan Man- 
ning, the wife of Robert Manning, a victualler, also 
of Maidstone ; a young girl named Joan Bradbridge, 
of Staplehurst ; Edmund Alley ne and his wife 
Catherine, of Frittenden ; and a poor blind girl, 
Elizabeth Lewis, were called to give an account of 



72 

their opinions. After a long disputation, they were 
sentenced to be burned. 

The Sentence or warrant of these unfortunate 
people has been preserved in the Harleian Collection, 
although apparently unknown. 

The Sentence seems to have been merely a rough 
form, used at various times, and first written for the 
condemnation for heresy of one Nicholas White. 
There is no mention of the year in the body of the 
warrant. The appended certificates, with the names 
of the Maidstone martyrs, are written in a different 
hand. These certificates, it will be observed, are 
dated. Some of the original Latin is very obscure. 
The sentence may be thus rendered : — 

In the name of God, Amen. We, Nicholas Harpesfeld, 
Doctor of Laws, Archdeacon of Canterbury, Com- 
missary,* together with Robert Collins, Bachelor of 
Laws, and John Warner, Bachelor, Professor of 
Sacred Theology, duly, sufficiently, and legally au- 
thorised by our Most Reverend Father in Christ, the 
Lord Reginald, by Divine Grace, Priest under the 
Title of St. Mary in Cosmedin, Cardinal Pole, Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England, and 
Legate de Latere of the Apostolic See, 
In a certain matter of heretical depravity against thee, 
personally constituted and appearing before us in judgment, 
we proceeding according to our right and proper office, with 
pious inclination, 

Having heard, seen, and understood, known, examined, 
discussed, and investigated, with mature deliberation, the 

* In the warrant, the words "Bicus permissione Deo Sacre 
theologie professor Epus Dovorien" are obliterated and Harpes- 
f eld's name and titles inserted. 



73 

merits and circumstances of the said charge, and having 
observed that which in this behalf ought lawfully to be 
seen by us sitting in judgment, having the name of Christ 
before our eyes, and taking cognizance of the acts, articu- 
lated, deduced, proposed, alleged and exhibited, as well as 
by thine own confession made before us in this behalf, — it 
appears certain that thou hast spoken, delivered, affirmed, 
pertinaciously and impiously defended various Heresies, and 
damnable opinions, contrary to the determination of the 
dogmas of our Holy Mother, the Catholic Church, and 
especially concerning the Sacrament of the Eucharist 
according as it appears by our Acts and thy answers. 

Nor have we been able to bring thee back, or recall thee, 
by any salutary admonitions and counsels, to a sounder and 
better mind, and to the bosom of the Church ; hence it is 
that we, Nicholas, with the consent of others skilled in the 
Law assisting us, as well with the advice and assistance of 
those with whom we have consulted on this behalf, 

Thou, Nicholas White, for thy deserts and faults thus 
confessed, aggravated by thy said damnable pertinacity so 
exhibited in this behalf, in refusing to return to our Holy 
Mother, the Church, We adjudge thee finally and definitively 
to be an Obstinate, Impenitent, and Incorrigible Heretic, 

And that thou, on account of these premises, art lawfully 
Excommunicated, and as such we do Pronounce, Decree, 
and Declare that thou, an Obstinate and Pertinacious 
Heretic, shalt forthwith be delivered over to the Secular 
power, and as a rotten member be cut off from the Body of 
our Holy Chuch, to all purposes of law which may there- 
upon follow, 

Earnestly entreating, by the Bowels of Jesus Christ, that 
this severe punishment and execution, to be had and done in 
this behalf against thee, may be so moderated and miti- 
gated that strict penal rigour may not be exacted 5 but that 



74 



clemency may be shown, to the safety and Salvation of thy 
Soul, and the extirpation, fear, and terror of heretics, and 
their conversion to the Unity of the Catholic Faith, con- 
cerning which we here protest by this our definite Sentence, 
and final decree, which we make and promulgate -by these 
Presents. 

r This sentence was read in the 
Palace of the Eeverend Father in 
God, The Archbishop of Canterbury, 
at Maidstone, the 14th day of Jjine,' 
Anno Domini 1557, in the presence 
Walter Appleby . . <( of we, John Baker, Public Notary, 
Nicholas Harpsfeld, Archdeacon of. 
Canterbury, Thomas Rydon, Thomas . 
Hendley, and George Clarke,* -Jus- 
tices, being the requisite witnesses, 
fee. 



Petronil Appleby 



This Sentence was read on the day 
and place aforesaid, in presence of 
we, John Baker, Public Notary, 
Nicholas Harpsfeld, Thomas Rydon, 
Thomas Hendley, and G-eorge Clarke, 
^the required witnesses, being present. 



Joan Broadbridge" 



This Sentence was read on the day 
and place aforesaid, in presence of 
we, John Baker, Public Notary, 
Nicholas Harpsfeld, Thomas Rydon, 
Thomas Hendley, and G-eorge Clarke, 
the required witnesses being present. 



Joan Manning 



This Sentence was read on the day 
and place aforesaid, in presence of 
we, John Baker, Public Notary, 
Nicholas Harpsfeld, Thomas Roydon, 
Thomas Hendley, and George Clarke, 
Justices, and other witnesses being 
^present. 



75 



Elizabeth Lewis. 



This sentence was read in presence 
of we, John Baker, Public Notary, 
Nicholas Harpsfeld, Archdeacon of 
Canterbury, Thomas Roydon. George 
Clarke, and Thomas Hendley, Jus- 
tices, and other witnesses being 
^present. 



Edmund Alleyne A 



This sentence was read on the day 
and hour aforesaid, in presence of we, 
John Baker, Public Notary, Nicholas 
Harpsfeld, Archdeacon of Canter- 
bury, Thomas Rydon, George Clarke, 
Thomas Hendley, Justices, and 
other requisite witnesses being 
^present. 



C This Sentence was read on the day 
I and place aforesaid, in presence of 

Katherine Alleyne J £?', si f ^ Ba , k ?V P A ub S Notary ^ 
J ) Nicholas Harpsfeld, Archdeacon of 

] Canterbury, Peter , and Wil- 

^liam Deacon, literate, witnesses. 

This Sentence was carried into effect in 
the King's Mead, now called the Fair Meadow, on 
Wednesday, the sixteenth of June, 1557, John Day, 
the curate before mentioned, preaching a very un- 
charitable sermon while the Martyrs were burning, 
which discourse is said to have been repeated on the 
ensuing Sunday at the Church. Appleby and his 
wife, who was a daughter of Mr. Spencer, of Maid- 
stone, had been married some six years previously — 
namely, in April, 1548, by Sir John Porter. 

John and Roger Hall, of Maidstone, who were 
present at the execution of those unfortunate people, 
afterwards wrote some particulars, which they ad- 



76 

dressed to John Fox, the author of the " Book of 
Martyrs." Koger Hall's account is as follows : — ■ 

"A Bailiff, named Dunk, said unto Joan Bradbridge, 
u when he was setting the wood about her, ' G-ood Joan, 
" forgive me thy death.' She laid her hands on his back, 
" saying, i Ah Dunk, Repent, Repent, for though I forgive 
" you, G-od's wrath is never forgiven.' From that, then she 
" turned to the people, and said, ' What is it I hear ?' ' A 
" clock,' they said. Then she said, ; Thanks be to God, by 
" eleven we shall be with our G-od,' and then, turning to the 
" blind maid, she said, ' Now, Sister Besse, be of good cheer, 
" thou didst never see, but soon ye shalt see the Lord Jesus 
u Christ,' to whom she answered, ' I trust so,' " 

John Hall's information takes the form of a letter, 
and as it also relates to some subsequent transac- 
tions, we reserve it for the next chapter. 

The town was at this time reduced to a deplorable 
condition. Many of the inhabitants had fallen in 
Wyatt's rebellion, persecution was carried on, and 
the civil rights of the town destroyed by the for- 
feiture of the Municipal Charter. 

Cardinal Pole, then Archbishop, endeavoured to 
ascertain what members were surviving of the Old 
College. The return of the pensioners, with the 
sums paid to them, and dated 1556, is as follows : — 

£ s. d. 

JohnLefie, late Master of the College 48 16 8 

John Porter, late Incumbent of the 

College 5 

Thomas Huggard, late Incumbent 

ditto 268 

James Killingrewe, ditto - - 2 

John Ware (or Warde), ditto - - 2 6 8 



77 







£ s. 


a. 


William Clere, 


ditto - - 


2 13 


4 


Arthur Butler, 


ditto - - 


4 





John Godfrey, 


ditto - - 


6 13 


4 


George Denham, 


ditto - - 


6 





Arthur Burton, 


ditto - - 


2 14 


4 


George Prior, 


ditto - - 


4 





Thomas Wade, 


ditto - - 


5 





William Rise, 


ditto - - 


1 6 


8 


John Pyersbye 


ditto - - 


1 6 


8 


John Weston, 


ditto - - 


2 13 


4 


Thomas Pyne, 


ditto - - 


4 






This was the list supplied to Cardinal Pole, but it is 
evidently incorrect, seeing that Pyne died, as we 
have before stated, on the twenty -eighth of May, 
1549. 

In 1557, Cardinal Pole enquires, at his visitation 
in Maidstone, whether the names of those who have 
been reconciled to the " duty of the Church" have 
been kept in a Register ordered for that purpose ; 
and another subject of enquiry here by Cardinal 
Pole, in the year 1557, was " whether they had a 
" Rood in the Church of a decent Statue, with Mary 
" and John, and an image of the Patron of the 
"Church;" and many things were intended wit^ 
respect to the Church and College, when all thes e 
schemes were stopped in 1558 by the death of Queen 
Mary. 

At this time, Catherine Knight, of Thurnham, 
Alician Snothe, of Biddenden, aod Christopher 
Browne, of Maidstone, were in trouble for their 
religious opinions, but the death of the Queen fortu- 
nately released them from prison. 



CHAPTER IX. 
Return of the Exiles : Letter concerning the Curate of Maid- 
stone ; The Church Organ ; j Ancient Organs in the neighbourhood ; 
The Church Officers and their Stipends in the Year 1556 ; Agree- 
ments for the Erection of Pues ; Thomas Tymme ; Richard 
Storer. 



' On the accession of Queen Elizabeth, it would 
seem that no immediate change was made in the 
arrangements of the Parish Church, and John Day, 
the nominee of Cardinal Pole, was allowed to con- 
tinue in his office until the year 1563. Many of the 
inhabitants who had been in exile during Mary's 
reign now returned, and some of them, it would appear, 
had brought with them extreme views. Amongst those 
who returned to Maidstone were Roger Newman, 
brother to the martyred John Newman, Matthew 
Mylles, Peter Brown, Richard Crispe, and Thomas 
Stanley ; the two latter, being at Geneva during the 
Marian persecution, had imbibed the opinions of 
John Knox. As might be imagined, these parties 
soon came in contact with Day, and they made every 
endeavour to get him discharged from the incum- 
bency. 

The following letter, from John Hall to Fox, will 
show how matters stood at this time : — 

John Hall to John Fox. 
Information of one Day, a Priest, Curate of Maydestone, 
It may please you to understand that one John Day is 
curate of Maydestone from the first yere of Queue Marye 



79 

unto this present yere 1566, of whom we be such — G-od for 
his mercy dely ver us j for he sheweth himself will not have 
any fear of God before his eyes. In quene Mary's daies he 
was defamed greatly fore whordome, beside the abominable 
blasphemy of Godde's truth, and detestable popery, and our 
most execrable example thereof, above all other, is to be had 
in perpetual memory. 

In the year of our Lord 1557, on Wednesday, the 16 of 
June, seven blessed and constant Marters were burned all at 
one stake in Maydestone, in a place there commonly called 
the King's Meadow. The names were these, Edmund 
Alleyne, and Catherine his wife, Waltr Apelbee and Petro- 
nell his wife, one Elizabeth Lewis, commonly called blind 
Besse, Jone Manning, the wife of one Eobert Manning, of the 
sayd town, and a vertuous maiden called Jone Bradbrege. 
At the burning of these blessed Marters, this wyked preste 
preached, first lendynge his abominable blasphemeus talk to 
them, sayinge that they were hereticks most damnable, and 
that by their heresy they had seperated themselves from the 
Holy Church, as he called that of Eome, which he cauled 
the Spouse of Christ, and Christ his mystical body ; and 
therefore, said he, " Ye have no part in Him," but when he 
saw that they were builded on the unmovable Rock of 
Christ, his word, who was their sweet comfort—for they 
cried unto him, " Away, Satan, away with thy doctrine . 
away with thy Blasphemy — in great haste and fury he 
torned back his face and talked to the people there assem- 
bled, saying, " Good people, ye ought not in any wise to 
" pray for these obstinate heretics — for look ! how ye shall 
" see their bodies burned with material fire, so shall their 
"damnable Soales burn in the unquenchable fire of hell 
"everlastingly." And not being thus content, the next 
Sunday following, which was the 20th of June, he repeated, 
being in the pulpit, to his hearers, most abominably that 



80 

which he said the Wednesday before in the King's Meadow 
to the people. 

These, with inumerable other popish blasphemies, he 
used in Queen Marie's days, but when it pleased God to 
send our nobil queen to the Crown, divers men, who all the 
daies of Queen Marie were in exile for their conscience, 
come home, amongst whom one, Roger Newman, who was 
brother to John Newman, who was burned in Queen Mary's 
time for the testimony of Christ, and one Peter Bron, and 
Matthew Milles, exhorted this priest to consider and recant 
his great blasphemies against the Church of God and his 
Saints. He answered them that he would do so, and the 
next Sunday following, which was the Sunday next before 
Whit Sundy, he went to the pulpit, and then he said — " It is 
"" reported of me," said he, " that in the the time of Queen 
" Mary, when certain people were burned in the Kings Meadow, 
" I should say that they were damned j but I think they do 
" belye me that so say or report of me ; but to say the truth, 
" I know not nor do not remember what I then said. (No 
" man there at that place, by reason of the flame of the 
"fire and the great smoke that the wind brought so 
" violently towards me.) Could I tell myself what I then 
*' said or spake ? but this I know, that some of them did 
"deny the humanity of Christ, and the equality of the 
" Trinity, and no man doubteth but that such are heretics, 
" wherefore I may be bold to say, even now again, that 
u unless by the great mercy of God and repentance, they 
" are damned," 

The parson now saying this, it much grieved them, as it 
did many others that heard him j wherefore after evensong, 
they stayed to speak with him on his accustomed Way to the 
ale-house, and asked him this question — Which of -them, 
said they, amongst them that were burned at this town, 
were it that denied the humanity of Christ and the equality 



81 

of the Trinity, as ye said to-day in the pulpit ? At which he 
stood still and paused as one astonied, and at the last he 
answered that none of them that were burned in the said 
town of Maidstone held those opinions. Wherefore they 
asked him wherefore he then made such abominable lies, 
and further whether the pulpit were made to utter lies and 
blasphemies in (for they well knew, as also all other that heard 
them so, that he did belie them, for none of them ever held 
any such error or opinion, but much all aborhed all heresies 
unto the death.) Unto them then he thus blasphemly 
answered, asked them whether they were not men, or that 
they never lied. "Did you," quoth he, "never he in your 
lives," " are ye not men yourselves," said he, " to be justified 
of yourselves, "and thus, in a fury, he flung from them to the 
ale-house, whereof he so much frequenteth that he very often 
goeth home drunk, scarce able to speak, or stand on his 
legs, drinking, bowsing, carding, and table playing is all 
his hole day exercise, all the which from tyme to tyme. 

Thus briefly for this tyme, but I meane that ye shall 
shortly have a copy of our suplycation, which we mean 
shortly to make to my lord of Canterbury, wherin ye shall 
more at large understand the life and behaviour of this 
monster. 

Thus, Jesu Christ be our comfort and give us after 
the aflyctions of this lyfe, Peace and Joy in Him. 

Amen. 

JOHN HALLE. 

In consequence of the representations made to 
the Archbishop, John Day was at last removed from 
his office. He continued to reside in Maidstone, and 
died a few years afterwards, being buried in the 
Churchyard of All Saints'. 



82 

The Mayor and Jurats now took the ecclesiastical 
matters of the town in their own hands, and in 1 562 
they issued the following order of Burghmote : — 

; 'It is ordained by the Mayor, Jurats, and Comonalty, 
" that all and many of men and" women dwelling, and 
"inhabitants within the Town and Parish of Maidstone 
" shall from henceforth sit in the Church of Maidstone in 
" such places and seats as the Churchwardens for the time 
" being shall assigne and appoint, upon the pain of every 
" person offending unto the contrary (being appointed by 
" the said Churchwardens), for every offence, three shillings 
" fivepence of lawful money of England, to be levied of the 
" same person or persons, his or their goods and chattels." 

At the time of Day's incumbency there was an 
Organ in the Church, possibly the one used in the 
College d^ys. Mention is frequently made of 
Kentish Organs in wills and other ancient documents 
concerning this county. St. Edmund's Church, of 
Canterbury (now demolished), belonged to the 
Abbot and Convent of St. Augustine, who gave it to 
the Prioress and Convent of St. Sepulchres adjoin- 
ing, so early as the year 1184, to hold in frank 
almoign, they offering as an acknowledgment of the 
Abbot and Convent's former right to it, twelve pence 
yearly upon the altar of St. Augustine on that 
Saint's day, as a rent towards the repairs of their 
Organs ; and Thomas Prowde, of the same city, 
bequeathed in 1468 a pair of Organs to the church 
of St. Alphege. Simon Watte, of Lydd, by will 
proved in 1515, gave towards the making of a "newe 
payer of Orgaynes" for Lydd church the sum of three 



83 

shillings and fourpence ; and at Egerton, John Att 
Welle bequeathed in 1531 five marks for the pur- 
chase of a new pair of Organs for Egerton church. 
The great Organ of Canterbury cathedral was given 
in the year 1370 by the Prior, Robert Hathbrand, 
and numberless instances occur which proves the 
Organ to have been a necessary part of Church 
furniture in every ecclesiastical establishment of 
any importance in this county for centuries before 
the Reformation. The Organist of Maidstone, in 
1556 was named Powell, and was paid the sum 
of £5 6s. 8d. per annum. There were also singing 
men, two of whom, John Andrews and Thomas 
Lilley, were paid £3 per annum each. The ringers 
were six in number, and received £2 5s. Od. between 
them. Day, the clergyman, received a stipend of 
£10 per annum. 

In 1569 Nicolas Barham, Sergeant-at-law, erected 
and built five " seates of pues " in the south aisle of 
the Choir, " for the necessary placing of hymselfe, 
" and hys wyf, and familye." In the agreement 
between himself and the Mayor and Jurats, he con- 
sents to make his house liable for the u repairs of the 
"great window in the same aisle, situated east." 
The following is the arrangement from the Burgh- 
mote Books : — 

September 25, 1569. 

In consideration that Nicholas Barham, one of Her 
Majesty's Sergeants at the Law, hath at his proper charges 
erected and builded five seats or pues in the South Isle, ad- 



84 

joining to the Chancel of the Parish Church of All Saints, of 
Maidstone, aforesaid, for the necessary placing of himself, 
and his wife, and family. 

And for that the said Nicholas is also contented to enter 
into covenants with the Mayor, Jurats, and Comonalty of 
the said Town and Parish of All Saints, of Maidstone, for 
him, his heirs, and assigns, of the house where he now 
dwelleth, in the Town of Maidstone aforesaid, to bear and 
sustain at his and their proper charges, the necessary repara- 
tions of the great Window of the same Isle, situate over 
against the same pues, from time to time as often as it shall 
be requisite. 

It is, therefore, ordered and agreed by the said Mayor, 
Jurats, and Comonalty, of the Town and Parish of All Saints, 
aforesaid, and with the consent of the Freeholders being at 
the said Court, — That the said Nicholas, his heirs and assigns 
of the said house where he now inhabiteth, within the said 
Town, shall have and enjoy the only Basement, use, an^ 
Comodity of the same five seats, and one other seat next 
above the same seat, and to them adjoining, without let or 
interruption of them or their successors. 

And that an Instrument in Writing between the said 
Mayor, Jurats, and Comonalty, and the said Richard, shall 
be made accordingly, wherein shall be comprised the 
covenants of the said Richard for the said reparation of the 
said Window, as is aforesaid. 

The name of Thomas Tymme occurs in 1571 as 
Minister or Curate. In 1572 he was made a Freeman 
of the Borough. The next year, 1573, the Curate's 
place was again vacant, and preaching being then in 
fashion, the Mayor and Jurats tried very hard to get 
an able man, and appealed to the Archbishop to 
make a good selection. The Chamberlyn's accounts 



85 

for the year 1570 contain the following entries : — 

s. d. 
" To Mr. Stephen Austen, for twyse wrytyng 
a supplication unto my lord of Canterbury 
f or a precher ij. o. 

" Paid to Capon for our wryting the same xii. 

" Mycharges,"and Goodman Combers', ryding 

to Lambeth to my lord with the same iv. vi. 

" My charges ryding to Canterbury about the 

same iv. o." 

The choice fell upon the Revd. Richard Storer, 
then Minister of Black Mersham, and on the 
thirteenth of August, 1574, the Mayor and,. Jurats 
issued the following order : — 

" Wee ordayne, constitute, and agree, that Master Storer 
"is our Minister. His yearly stipend for his ministry 
"towards the congregation of Maidstone aforesaid, 
"shall be hereafter payed by the Corporation of 
"'Maidstone aforesaid, or their depute, or officer, from 
" the Bishopp of the Diocess, or when the same stipend 
" is yerely allowed and proportioned, and shall be payed 
"every quarter day, or within four dayes next after, 
" unto the same Mr. Storer, so long as he shall be our 
"Minister of G-oddes Worde at Maidstone aforesaid (for 
" his peace and dute), and that if he doe live his natural life 
"amongst us, that the whole quarter that he hath deceased 
"in, shall be given, and allowed, and payed in money to his 
" executors or assigns." 

The Mayor and Jurats at the same time ordered 
that if the Minister was annoyed during Divine 
Service, the parties offending were to be prosecuted, 
not only by the Churchwardens and Sidesmen, " but 
" also by some other spiritual officer, to that intent 



86 

u to be named, appointed, and assigned imme- 
u diately ; " and from various documents it would 
appear that religious disturbances were of frequent 
occurrence within the walls of the Church. 

The following receipts of Storer 1 s, in connection 
with his appointment to the Curacy of Maidstone, 
have been preserved : — 

Eeceived of Mr. Mylles, Chamberlen, of Maydestone 
the some of twenty-fyve shillmge of Lawfull monye, 
•of Inglande. This was done by the consent of Mr. 
Downes, Mair at that tyme, with his brethren. 
In consideration hereafter declared, and specified, 
To wit, whereas at this presents (I Eichard Storer, 
now Curate of Maydestone aforesaid, on the lawfull 
parson of Blackmeersotn, by the gifte of me Lords Grace of 
Canterbury), I do, in consyderation of the said some, to me 
payd for my charges (in obtayninge the same benifice), pro- 
mise, that if ever I do resygne the same benifice, or go from 
it by natural deth, that the same benifice shall go to the 
next Incumbent in Maydestone after my decease, that the 
Mair then beinge presently after my decease, do make 
request to the Bishoppe of Canterbury, to put hym in 
remembrance thereof, that if it be not so granted, then I 
promise to repaye xxs., agayne by me, myne heres, exers, or 
assigns, to the Chamber of Maydestone. In witnesse hereof, 
I have given this note of my hande, made and subscribed 
with myne owne handwriting, the xxth day of December, 

Anno Dni. 1576. 

Byrne, 

Eichard Storer. 

The Burghmote Book of 1577 contains an entry of 

the admission of Storer to the freedom of the town, 

•" Richard Storer, Clerke, Curat of Maydestone, and 



87 

" a preacher of Goddes Gospel, admitted ." Storer 
died in December, 1581, and was buried in the 
Church. The burial register describes him as 
"Mr. Richard Storer, a Reverend Preacher and 
" Mynister of the Holie Worde of God, Curat of this 
" Parish." 




CHAPTER X. 

Robert Carr ; Fines for Dogs in Church ; Confirmation of the 
Church to the Town ; The Bells ; Church Fees in 1613 ; Sir John 
Astley ; William Carr ; The Earl of Salisbury's claim to the 
Church ; Death of Robert Carr. 



Storer was succeeded in the Curacy by the Rev. 
Robert Carr, and during his incumbency the Mayor 
and Jurats made a variety of orders respecting the 
arrangements of the Church. Occasionally they 
desired that particular clergymen should preach 
before them. The Chamberlain's accounts for 1582 
show payments made 
" For a potle of wyne for Mr. Deane yt day he s. d. 

prched here ij. 

" To Roger Halle that he gave to the preacher 

of G-owderst by Mr. Mair's appoyntment ... x." 

In 1599 the Mayor and Jurats ordered " That no 

" man or woman shall suffer any of their dogs to be 

" in the Church with them to trouble any of the 

" Divine Service, uppon payne to forfefc 

" for evrie Mastif iiijd. 

c ' for e verie Greyhounde ... ij d. 

" and for everie small dogge ijd." 

From the Will of John Smythe, proved in 1600, 
we find that he bequeaths to the Church of Maid- 
stone the sum of four pounds towards the repara- 
tions then in progress. 



89 

In 1603 a Charter was granted to the Town, in 
which is a very important clause relating to the 
Church : it is as follows : — 

"And Whereas also a certain Church in the town of 
" Maidstone aforesaid, called the Church of All Saints of 
" Maidstone, was formerly a Collegiate Church, and by 
" many years now elapsed was used and applied to celebrate 
" there Divine Service, and other things which appertains to 
" Divine Worship, and the said Church, with the Churchyard 
" of the same, was formerly part of the possessions of the 
" late dissolved house or College of Maidstone aforesaid, as 
" we are informed, We, moved by piety, and for the increase 
" of Divine Worship, are willing that hereafter for ever the 
u same Church and Churchyard belonging to the same, shall 
" be, remain, and be applied to Divine Services in the said 
" Church from time to time to be celebrated, and for the 
11 burying the dead in the said Churchyard, will, and in right 
" of our prerogative grant that the said Church, at all times 
" hereafter for ever, be, shall be, and shall be called the 
" Parish Church of Maidstone, in the County of Kent, and 
" the same Church by the name of the Parish Church of 
" Maidstone, in the Couuty of Kent, for us, our heirs and 
" successors, by the presents, will, at all future times here- 
" after for ever, so to be named, known, and called. 

" And to the intent that the said Church hereafter for 
" ever may be and remain a Parish Church, for perpetually 
" celebrating Divine Service, and other things belonging to 
" Divine Worship in the said Church, and for administering 
"the Sacraments and Sacramentals in the same, and to 
" which Church aforesaid the Mayor, Jurats, and Common- 
" alty of the King's Town and Parish aforesaid, and all other 
u inhabitants resident within the said Town and Parish, 
" from time to time may go, meet, and assemble, We do of 
a our special grace, and of our certain knowledge and mere 

M 



90 

1 motion, give and by these presents grant and confirm to 
" the aforesaid, the now Mayor, Jurats, and Commonalty of 
" the King's Town and Parish of Maidstone, in the County 
" of Kent aforesaid, and their successors, the said Church of 
" Maidstone aforesaid, and the Churchyard of the said 
" Church, with the appurtenances, to have and to hold the 
" aforesaid Church and Churchyard, with the appurtenances, 
" to the aforesaid now Mayor, Jurats, and Commonalty of 
" the King's Town and Parish of Maidstone aforesaid, and 
" their successors for ever, for the performing and celebrating 
" these Divine Services and other things which to Divine 
; Worship appertains, as is now used, or heretofore was, or 
" were, or are in use, to hold of Us, Our Heirs and 
" Successors." 

The Church bells, which had been bought at the 
sale of the Church goods, were found, in the year 
1604, to be in a very imperfect condition. The 
second was broken, and the great bell crazy ; it was 
therefore arranged that the whole peal should be 
recast, "to make them tuneable and perfect sound- 
ing," and that Mr. John Rumney, Mr. William 
Plomer, and Mr. Richard Maplesden, Jurates, with 
the Wardens of the Church, and " others fitt to join 
'* in the new casting of the whole, with the consent 
"of the Maior for the time being, shall think fitt." 
In order to provide for the payment, a separate 
assessment was ordered to be levied on the town and 
parish. The work was executed to the satisfaction 
of the Committee, and the Chamberlain's accounts 
tell us that they paid, in 1604 — 

"For Wyn at the Starre, bestowed on the s. d. 
Bell founders 15 2" 



91 

Carr was placed on the list of freemen acting in 
the Burghmote Court in 1604. 

The next matter in connection with the Church 
was the settlement of disputes respecting the Church 
Fees Several vestry meetings, or Church assem- 
blies, had been held in 1613 to consider the business, 
which at last ended in its being referred to the 
Burghmote Court. Their decision was as follows : — 

u It is now (according to the request and petition of the 
"last Church assembly) ordered that a writing be made 
" touching the accustomed fees of the Church dutyes paide 
" and approved of, to agree with the use in former tymes, 
" be not only entered in the Burghmote Book, but also a 
" Table thereof to be made and hung up in this Court or in 
" the Church." 

It was afterwards resolved to affix this Table in 

some conspicuous part of the Church, in which 
position it remained until the incumbency of Carr's 
successor, when it was removed into the vestry. 

The following is a copy of the Table then affixed 
in the Church: — 

" Maydestone, XI die Octovr, 1613. 
" Church dutyes here as the lawe by ancient use until 
" within these X or xn yeres past, First taken by 
"information of dyvers of the ancient inhabitants, 
u and the testimony of Stephen Austen, late clerke 
" under bis hand, and wych, being compared wyth ye 
u Table of lyke dutyes hung up in Bow Church, 
u London, and other parishes, this Table doth agree 
u with them, and now, upon due consideration, is 
" confirmed and approved for ye tyme to come by the 
" Order of Burghmote, Mr. Carre being present and 
* assenting thereto, as ensuing, viz, : — 



92 



Marriages, 

{d. ") xxd. and nothing of 
Imprimis, the Bands ij f dutie to the Sax- 
To the Curate xij f ton. unless it be 
To the Clarke vij in Gratuytue. 

Churchings. 

Churchings . Ito the Curate ril ^h a * d ^. the 

(To the Saxton ij Clarke nothing. 

If two children, then double. 



Touching Burialls in the Churche lies, or Churchyarde, 
beside the Town dutyes. 

s. d.~ 

To the Curate iiij. 

To the Clarke i. 

In the Church To the Saxton, for the Pass- 
ing Bell iv. V xii. 

or lies. The Knell with the Great 

or iv Bell xvi. 

Making the Grave and 
(^ filling it iij. iv.^ 



r 



In the 
Churchyard. 



s. d."| 



To the Curate, with the 

great bell for the knell... ij. 1 

j To the Clarke i. I 

\ To the Saxton, for the r 

passing bell iv. 

The Knell, as above xii. I 

w For makeing the Grave viii. J 



To the Curate, when the 
second great bell is rung 

for the Knell 

To the Clarke 

To the Saxton, for the 
passing bell and knell, as 

above 

. The Grave, with a Coffyn . 
I^The Grave, without a Coffyn 



d..1 



XVI. 

viii. 



vnj 



s. d. 
iiij. x. 



93 



ii] 



r an 

With the three bells rung 

for the knell, to the Curate xii. 

To the Clarke 

\ To the Saxton, for the 

passing bell iv. 

I For the Knell xii. 

LFor the Grave viii. 

r *. 

To the Curate, when any of 
the iij little Bells are rung 
for the Knell viij. 

To the Clarke iiij. 

- To the Saxton, for ye pass- 
ing bell viij. 

For the Knell viij. 

For the grave, with a coffyn iiij. 

For the grave, without a 

coffyn vj.J 

"Touching Christenings, nothing, except for 
entering the name 

" In all those cases of Burials of poore people 
receiving of alms, nothing, except for 
making the Grave iiij. 

" These extend not to former dwellers, nor to Marriages 
and Churchings at extraordinary tymes, or at their houses, 
or Burials in ye Chancele, but the same are left to the con- 
sideracion of the Curate, to deale therein as shall be fitt." 

In 1615 an endeavour was made by Sir John 
Astley to stop up the path leading to the Church, 
under the Cliff. Sir John claimed that part of the 
River Med way at the back of the Palace, as being 
part and parcel of the possessions of the Archbishops 
of Canterbury before its alienation. The river was 
then tidal at this spot, and for several miles beyond 
Maidstone. The Mayor and Jurats, to try Sir 
John's right to this claim, one day sent some men to 



s. d. 
iii ij. 



d. 
ij- 



94 

fish immediately opposite the Palace. The enraged 
Knight had them at once apprehended and com- 
mitted to prison, from whence, it seems, they were 
soon released. And now commenced a long course 
of law proceedings between Sir John Astley and the 
Mayor and Jurats of Maidstone, who were ultimately 
victorious, and Sir John was compelled to pay the 
whole of the heavy law cost incurred in these pro- 
ceedings. During the suit, a compromise was 
attempted by Sir John Astley offering to give up a 
large portion of the ground adjoining the Church- 
yard, on the north side of the Church, but the pro- 
posal was rejected. 

Carr, who had become infirm with age, was allowed 
an assistant in the person of his son, "William Carr, 
who had been elected Parish Clerk. William Carr 
preachrd the sermons m the afternoon. William 
Lyford, who was the Usher or Assistant- Master in 
the Free School, had previously been Parish Clerk 
and assistant to Carr. 

The conduct of William Carr gave such satisfac- 
tion to the inhabitants, that the Mayor and Jurats, 
in the year 1617, passed the following resolution: — 

" Whereas, by an Assembly or Meeting of the Church, it 
" was thought fitt to allow Mr. William Carr, for his en- 
•" couragement in his studdy, Ten pownde per annum, synce 
u wych tyme having had eveydence of his forwardness in 
"his paynestaking in preaching and of his sufficiencie 
u therein, It is no we at this Court thought fitt to increase 
•" his said allowance unto Ten pownds per annum now by 
•" such increase of Church Cess and for Church business as 



95 

" formerly, wych was desired to be confirmed at the next 
" Church meeting, with this caution and proviso— That 
" neither the former allowance, nor this further increase of 
" allowance, shall be any precedent or example in tyme to 
" come for any other to demand or have the like without 
" like without like order and approbacion." 

William Carr, however, did not long enjoy this 
increased salary, as he died in 1618, and the Rev. 
Peter Dillom or Dilland, of Cambridge, who was 
then licensed assistant to old Mr. Carr, was taken ill 
in his journey from Cambridge, and died before 
reaching Maidstone, he was, however brought to this 
town and was buied in the Churchyard on the 19th 
of September, 1618. Another assistant to Mr. Carr 
was then found in the person of a Mr. Willeys, who 
we shall see was ultimately the cause of some little 
ill-feeling in the town. 

About this time an attempt was made by the Earl 
of Salisbury to establish a claim to the possession of 
the Church of All Saints, on the ground of its being 
a portion of the College property. In the grant to* 
Lord Cobham in the year 1549, the site of th e 
College is described as " The entire site, inclosure, 
"circuit, incompassment, and precincts of the late 
" College of All Saints, in Maidstone, in the county 
"of Kent, with all its rights, members, appur- 
"tenances, and all those three barns and two 
" orchards adjacent to the said site, with their appur- 
" tenances, containing by estimation three acres, and 
" all and singular the houses, edifices, structures, 



96 

u garden grounds, orchards, gardens, pools, fish 
" ponds, etc., within the site and precinct of the said 
" College, and all the lead in and upon the said 
" buildings." 

The grandson of the Lord Cobham above men- 
tioned was attainted of high treason in the year 1603, 
and consequently deprived of his estates, the College 
of Maidstone amongst others, which was granted to 
the Earl of Salisbury. Lord Cobham had claimed 
the Church as his private property, but had not 
instituted any legal proceedings. Some time after 
the Earl of Salisbury came into possession of the 
College, he revived the old claim, insisting that St 
Faith's must have been the Parish Church of Maid- 
stone, and that All Saints being merely the private 
Chapel of the College, belonged to him by virtue of 
the original grant. 

The inhabitants bestirred themselves, and 
vigorously resisted all attempts to cajole them out of 
their Church, and the Mayor and Jurats in their 
defence in 1619 state — 

"As my Lord of Cobham had little colour to claim 
" the said church (admit the same a Collegiate and not 
" a Parish Church), so we hope my Lord the Earle of Salis- 
bury hath as little. For proof that this was a Parish and 
" not a Collegiate Church it is offered— 

" Fyrst. At the suppression of the College by the Com- 
" missioners it is termed the Parish Church of All Saints 
" and St. Paith's is called the Chapel of St. Faith's (which 
"Mr. Henry Hall hath). 



97 

w Second. The said Chapel is by that name granted to the 
" Town, and by them sold over. 

" Third. The reason why we accepted the said Church 
" from the King, anno secundo Regni, by the name of a 
" Church, Was to prevent others that were upon the point of 
" putting the same by that name, who failing of that 
" purpose, now make pretence under my Lord of Salisbury, 
" his title, he not being the immediate patentee from the 
" King. 

" Fourth. If St. Faith's were a Parish Church, then there 
" were two Parish Churches in Maidstone, which in the 
" second of Elizabeth was not so taken, being then incor- 
porated by the name of the Maior, Jurates, and Coni- 
" monality of the Town and Parish of Maidstone j and the 
u same in King James first charter, at which time there was 
" no semblance of any other Church than this. 

" This might be both a Parish Church and likewise a 
"Collegiate Church, as for one hundred years before 
" there was certainly no other Parish Church within this 
" Town. 

" Fifth. Admit it a Collegiate Church, wherein there are 
11 ancient monuments of Burials, as in this. Yet it is of this 
" nature, that it cannot be employed to other uses, no more 
u than things offered. Neither will it pass from the Crown, 
" if it might be given, but by special words, and to such use 
" as formerly our Charter dotb mention." 

Several ancient claims were also insisted upon at 
this time. Amongst others the inhabitants of the 
College claimed to be out of the jurisdiction of the 
Corporation, and not liable to assessment, but 
exempt from all local taxation, as they were before 
the suppression of the College. 



98 

Acting under the advice of Mr. Recorder Gull, 
the Mayor and Jurates brought all these matters to 
such a successful issue that the questions were never 
again raised. 

The Rev. Robert Carr, after an incumbency of 
thirty-nine years, died in October, 1620. In the 
Register of burials he is described as " Robert Carr, 
Mr. of Arts, our reverend pastor." 




CHAPTER XI. 

1620 to 1640. 

The Eev. Eobert Barrell ; Corporation Orders ; Dispute 
respecting the Election of Parish Clerk ; The Weekly Lecture ; 
Corporation Order ; Petition to the Archbishop ; Customs in 
some of the Churches. 



Carr was succeeded by the Eev. Robert Barrell, 
who had only settled here a very short time when he 
had the misfortune to lose his wife. Mrs. Barrell 
died in May, 1621. Barrell, however, appears to 
have married again in 1623. 

Barrell, who was somewhat of a restless disposi- 
tion, and also possessed of some learning, did not 
coincide with the position assumed by the Mayor 
and Jurats of Maidstone in matters ecclesiastical. 
The Corporation issued their orders by no means to 
the liking of the Rev. Robert Barrell, who at once 
prepared to take high ground in matters concerning 
the Church arrangements. The former incumbents 
had signed themselves either as " Curate '' or 
44 Minister;" old Carr even occasionally left out these 
titles, and merely wrote himself " Robert Carr, 
ther" (there) ; so that when Barrell signed himself 
" Clergyman," it seems to have been considered an 
innovation. 

L.cfC. 



100 

There was no immediate rupture, and an arrange- 
ment was made respecting the congregation fre- 
quenting the Church, by the Mayor and Jurats, 
without any opposition. The order for this purpose 
was as follows : — 

" November, 1622. Ordered that means be used for the 
" obtaining a Commission from Sir- James Hussey, Knight, 
"unto twelve of this Town, the Mayor, three of the Jurates, 
•' the Churchwardens, and four of the Comon Council, for 
" placing of any Inhabitant in any pew or seat in Maidstone 
" Church, or displacing or adding as the said Commission 
" shall authorise." 

The first offence given to the Mayor and Jurats 
by Barrel! was the dismissal of Willeys, the assistant 
curate in Carr's later years, who, since his residence 
in Maidstone, had gained the esteem of the inhabit- 
ants. This breach was shortly after healed, and in 
1825 the following order was issued by the Corpo- 
ration : — 

" It is thought fit and so ordered that none executed for 
" felonie be buried in the Parish Church Yard without leave 
" of the Mayor and Mynister for the> time, and touching the 
" persons henceforth to be buried in St. Faith's Chapel Yard, 
"the same shall extend to such householders and their 
"families, that for their poverty be not assesed to thepoore, 
" and not otherwise without like leave of the Mayor and 
" Mynister for the time." 

Just after the issuing of this order, Barrell refused 
to be guided by the Table of Dues, or Fees, which 
the Mayor and Jurats had ordered in Carr's incum-. 
&jency.. Thi& was taken as a great disrespect to the 



101 

Council, and, acting under their advice, several in- 
habitants refused to pay the dues demanded by 
Barrel!. The consequence of this was that Barrel! 
unfortunately cited them to the Ecclesiastical Court, 
which act caused a great amount of mischief in the 
town, and drew the next order from the Council : — 

" 1625. Whereas there have been, and yet are, questions 
" for and concerning the duties due, or supposed to be due,. 
" unto the Minister of ye Towne and Parish, as well for 
" Marriages, Christenings, Burials, and other duties belong- 
" ing and payable by the inhabitants of this Towne and 
"Parish unto the same-Church, and by reason thereof many 
" have been wronged, and divers others by suite, or other- 
"wise, like to be troubled if present order be not taken 
" therein. To the end, therefore, that all men may under- 
" stand ye nature of all ye said duties, It is ordered by this 
u Court that a Table of all manner of duties belonging or 
" appertaining both to the Church and Minister, be fayr e 
" written and hanged up in some convenient place of ye* 
"said Church, And if afterwards any inhabitant of thi& 
" Towne and Parish shall be demanded any other or larger 
"duties, and for non-payment thereof shall be troubled, 
" cited, or sued, and if him or them so troubled shall forth- 
" with accquaint ye Mayor, Jurats, and Recorder of this- 
" Towne and Parish for the time being, that then (if they 
" shall so thinke fitt) the whole Charges of such Sute or 
" Sutes shall be borne and paid out of ye Chamber of the 
"said Towne and Parish by the Chamberlaine thereof for 
" the tyme being." 

So matters went on until the year 1629, when 
another and fiercer eruption arose respecting the 
appointment of the Parish Clerk. The case on 



102 

behalf of the Town and Parish was thus stated by 
Mr. Kecorder Gull : 

" August, 1629. Touching a Parish Clarke, his election 
" and allowances, collected out of the Church Books, as the 
" same is thereby warranted. 

" First, From the Suppression of the College II. Edward 
" YI. until anno II. Elizabeth, there was none. 

" Second, The first Clarke was Robert Harris (a Taylor), 
" made free in regard thereof, as appeareth in the Burgh- 
"mote Booke, and after him the two Austens, and then 
" Duke and Knight. 

"Third, By many years since the first Clarke — about 
" twentie — at several tymes, there was no Clarke, but that 
" place served by the Sexton, as appeareth by the Church 
" Books. 

" Fourth, The yearly allowance (when any), he not being 
" a preacher, is fower pownds pr annum and sometyme lesse, 
" as was chosen by the parishioners and paid by the Church- 
" wardens out of fower pence a howse and other Church 
" Datyes by them collected, and never otherwise but by Mr. 
"Barrell." 

" Fifth, In Bishop Whitquif te's tyme, there being then 
"one of the said Austens (a poor taylor appoynted Clarke), 
" was by the Towne displaced and pulled out of the reading 
" seate, and Mr. Carr enforced by the same Bishop to reade 
" himselfe unlesse he would provyde one att his owne cost, 
"Owld Abraham Hoper and Henry Cooper being the n 
" Churchwardens. 

• " Sixth, At a Church assembly, held in September, 1622, 
" at the Special Suit and instance of Mr. Barrell, this fowe r 
" pence a house was granted, with this proviso':— That such 
" persons as thenceforth should be appoynted to sarve here 
" as Clarke might recieve of every inhabitant, being house- 



103 

" holders (alms people excepted), yearly the sum of fower 
" pence, to be collected by himself and not by the Church- 
" wardens. 

" By which as the same order sheweth that the Clarke 
" was not appoynted without the assent of the Parishioners. 
" Mr. Barrell, being then thought fitt by the parishioners, 
" was allowed to send to the Universitie for one. 

" Seventh. Since Mr. Barrell's coming not being yet nine 
" years, he taking upon himself to chuse a Clarke, hath at 
" several tymes appointed eight ornyne Clarkes and againe 
" displaced them, to their great dislike, retaining to hymselfe 
" such Church Dutyes as the Towne gave to Mr. Carr in 
" 1613 for himself and the Clarke, Mr. Barrell now alloweth 
"the Church what part thereof he pleaseth, and made a 
" gayne to hymselfe thereby." 

Barrell, however, did not yield, and a few weeks 
after a Burghmote Court was held "by Richard 
Maplesden, Mayor, Thomas Swynocke, Gervase 
Maplesden, Ambrose Beale, Robert Swynocke, 
Robert Wood, John Collens, and Walter Fisher f 
Jurates. The fruits of their deliberations appeared 
in the following order : — 

" Whereas the appoynting of a Clarke (when any) hath 
" been anciently by the Mayor and Jurates, wyth the assent 
"of the Parishioners, and by late orders in Mr. Barrell's. 
" tyme the same hath byn so performed, And whereas Mr, 
" Barrell hath lately claymed to hymself alone the electio 
" and displacing of the Clarke, and hath caused to be entered 
" in the Ecclesiastical Court the names of some as Clarks 
" by himself, without the assent of the parishioners, 

" And hath also within these few dayes on the Sabbath, 
" in the Pulpitt, declared that he had appoynted one Robert 
" Wall, Batchelor of Artes, as his Clarke, 



104 

■" The like was never before assumed by hym, or any other 
** of his predecessors. 

" It is therefore ordered that if any suit shall be com- 
"menced against any freeman sworn, by or on behalf of 
"any Clarke or Reader not appoynted or elected by, or 
u with the assent of the said Parishioners. The same shall 
u be defended by Plea or other lawful means, by assess- 
" ments upon freemen only. 

" Neither shall any Clarke placed with the assent of the 
" parishoners be otherwise displaced. 

" Furthermore, it is ordered that if Mr. Barrell, or any 
" other Curate of this Parish, or any, for, or on, his or their 
" behalf, shall myslead any Inhabitant, being a freeman 
41 sworne, in the Ecclesiastical Court for dutyes of Burials 
" Marriages, Tythes of houses or shoppes, or other Church 
u dutyes lately demanded and not accustomed, such suit or 
"suits shall be defended by the Mayor, Jurats, and 
" Comonalty of this Town and Parish for the time being, 
" by assessments upon freemen only. And that, neverthe- 
" less, if it shall be so thought fltt, such cowrse in la we may 
" be taken by this body politicke on their behalf, by the pay, 
u ment by like assessment, so far as the lawes of this king- 
u dom shall or may lawfully warrant the same." 

In some memoranda left by Mr. Recorder Grull, 
he says, amongst other things, that " In Mr. Heley's 
"mayoralitie in 1595, James Hoads was Clerke, 
" and 1 find to him no yearly allowance, and upon 
*' his decease there was for sometime a vacancy of 
"Clarkes until Mr. Spencer's Mayoralitie in 1599, 
*' during which time I find no allowance. Then came 
" Mr. Lyford, the usher, whose wages then was iiij.li 
u and the next year— he preaching — vi.li xiii.s iiij.d; 



. 105 

" and after, until his decease, viii.li, which several 
" wages were always payd by the Churchwardens, 
" and allowed them in their accounts.' 

" Mr. William Carr succeeded, who, preaching in 
a the afternoon of the Sabbath-day, for the sake 
"of his father, his wages viii.li, then x.li, and, 
" lastlie, xx.li. 

u Auld Mr. Carr becoming unable, and his sonne 
" deseasing, the whole town provided and allowed 
"Mr. Willeys the like allowance of xx.li, until Mr. 
" Barrell disliking him, and affirming that himself 
u was able to discharge that service, and disburden 
" the town of the charge, whereby Mr. Willeys, and 
"others since have been inforced to leave the 
" towne," 

It had been the custom to have a weekly lecture 
in the Church during Carr's incumbency, and also 
in the earlier part of Barrell' s curacy ; but, in con- 
sequence of the excitement respecting the various 
changes in the Church, the townspeople refused to 
subscribe, and the lecture was given up for some 
months. In 1630 many of the congregation attended 
the services at Otham Church, the incumbent of 
which parish, as we shall afterwards perceive, having 
been appointed by those parties in Maidstone who 
had been irritated against Barrell. 
. Peace however was shortly afterwards restored 
upon Barrell representing that the re-establishment 
of the evening lecture would produce good results 
in the town. This truce between the parties origi- 
nated the next order of Burghmote :— 
o 



106 

"January, 1631. 
" This assembly, upon the motion of Mr. Barrell, have 
" willingly assented to renew the weekly lecture (late ceased). 
The same to be performed by these six ministers — viz., Mr. 
"Barrell, Mr. Henshaw, Mr. Whittle, Mr. Wilson, Mr. 
" Tylden, and Mr. John Swynock, by them or one of them 
" in person, and to be mayntayned by Voluntary Contribu- 
" tions of the Inhabitants of abilitie, to continue for so long 
" a time as it shall not otherwise cease for want of contri- 
butions as formerly it hath done, or other reasonable 
" excuse, so to be declared by Act of Burghmote, 

" And the said Mynisters are to be allowed out of the said 
"contributions twenty pounds per annum, to be disposed at 
" their pleasure, and to be collected and payed them half- 
" yearly by such inhabitants as the Mayor for the tyme 
" shall appoint. 

" And this assembly do desire that this Servise may begin 
" at vn of the Clocke," 

For two or three years matters went on rather 
better, and there seemed a chance of all former 
differences being forgotten, when the war again broke 
out, and with redoubled fury, as it was now seen, in 
some new disturbance which had originated, that 
Barrell, the curate, was acting under the advice of the 
Eector, Archbishop Laud. In 1634 another 
dispute occurred respecting the Church, the 
wardens of which concurred with the Mayor and 
Jurats, and legal proceeding were threatened. In 
order to meet expenses, and to repay the Church- 
wardens any cost they might be put to, six months' 
assessment was collected in advance from the town, 
and a committee of defence formed, which consisted 
of Caleb Banks (Mayor), Gervase Maplesden and 



107 

Ambrose Beale (Jurats), Thomas Swynocke, Martin 
Jeffery, and John Wall, Common Councilmen. 

It had been the custom, from the year 1560, for 
all notices of Burghmote Meetings to be announced 
the Sunday previously from the reading-desk in the 
Church. Barrell now refused to have these notices 
read. This affront the Corporation never forgave, 
and finding that they could not compel Barrell to 
announce their Burghmote Meetings, passed the 
following order in March, 1634. 

" Whereas, Mr. Barrell, the Curate of this Towne, hath 
" of late refused to publysh the Courte of Burghmote in the 
" Church, contrary to ancient custom, 

" It is, therefore, ordered that eight dayes or more before 
u every such Court, there shall be several papers fayerlye 
" written and fixed in the most publicke places of the 
" Towne, to declare the day and place of such Court, and that 
u at five of the clocke in tbe morneigne of every such Courte 
" day which shall happen betweene the Annunciacion of 
" the Blessed Virgin and the feast of Saint Michaell the 
" Archangell, and at seaven of the clocke in the moreninge 
" of every such Courte as shall happen betweene the said 
" feast of Saint Michael and the said feast of the Annun- 
" ciacion, the Comon Cryer of the said Towne for the 
"tyme beinge shall sown'd a Base Horn twelve tymes 
" (minutelye), 

" Three tymes at East Lane Corner, 

"Three tymes at Little Conduit, 

" Three tymes at the upper end of Bullock Lane, and 

" Three tymes at Wrens Crosse, 
" which said Horn is to bee provided and kept for that pur- 
" pose by the Chamberleynes of the said Towne, the which 
" the present Chamberleynes are by this order to provide 
" and keepe, 



108 

" And that such warneing soe given shall be as sufficient 
" as if the same had been published in the Church, or as 
" if every one of the Jurates and Comonality had had par- 
u ticular warneing given to them by the sergeants or other 
" officers of the said Towne." 

In 1635 the legal adviser of the Corporation, Mr. 
Recorder Gull, died, and from that time the Mayor 
and Jurats were not so successful in their proceed- 
ings, and the Archbishop being all powerful, 
supported Barrell in every movement which he 
originated, or rather as the Council now supposed 
those changes which Laud instigated. 

Proceedings were taken by Barrell against many 
of the inhabitants for non-payment of the Church 
dues as fixed by himself, and some were cited to the 
Ecclesiastical Court. In April 1636 the Council 
decided that a petition should be prepared, stating 
the matters in dispute between themselves and 
Barrell. The delivery of the petition into the hands 
of the Archbishop was intrusted to Thomas 
Swinnock, one of the Jurats, whose charges were to 
be defrayed by the Chamberlains out of the Town 
funds. 

Some few years before this there had come to 
reside in Maidstone a young attorney of the name of 
Andrew Broughton, who had been admitted to the 
freedom of the town in 1629. He was noticed as a 
sharp lawyer and an industrious man, so it was 
determined at this crisis to bring him to bear on the 
Town's side of the question then agitating ; and 



109 

accordingly in 1636 he was elected a member of the 
Common Council, and it will be seen played a most 
important part in the troubles of this eventful 
period. 

The petition to Archbishop Laud ended in a very 
abrupt way. Ambrose Beale, Caleb Banks, John 
Wall, Martin Jeffrey, and others were sued in the 
Court of High Commission, and fined fifty pounds 
each for executing the orders of the Burghmote. 
This was an unexpected blow to the Corporation, who 
then forwarded another petition, in the name of the 
Mayor, Jurats, and Commonalty of Maidstone, for 
the purpose of having the fines mitigated ; but, it 
would appear, without success. Ambrose Beale was 
so frightened at Laud's terrible court that, having 
possession of the Burghmote Books in May, 1636, all 
the orders of the Council relating to the Church 
were crossed through with a pen, and the margins tell 
us " that they were obliterated in behalf of the town 
" of Maidstone by Ambrose Beale." Nothing was 
said about Beale's treatment of the Burghmote 
orders at the time, but in 1641 it was resolved to 
sue him for having on his own authority crossed out 
the acts and orders relating to the Church. The 
resolution, however, may have been merely intended 
as a protest, at all events, the matter was allowed 
to drop. 

The next thing we hear of is the citing of Lau- 
rence Newton, a Goldsmith of the town, in the 
Archbishop's Court, by Barrell. Newton was sup- 



110 

plied by the inhabitants with money to defend 
himself during these proceedings ; and beyond this 
case we hear of nothing concerning Church matters 
until the year 1640. The Mayor and Jurats then 
made an effort to recover their lost ground, and 
ordered, on the tenth of July, that a " Church 
" meeting should be held upon Sunday come fort- 
" night," to consider how to procure a u Lecturer to 
" preach on Sunday afternoons," and that a "remon- 
u strance of the proceeding of a former petition 
" concerning Church Duties " be presented to the 
" Lord of Canterbury," with " an intimation of Mr. 
" Barrell's prosecuting of his Sute against Lawrence 
" Newton." 

In October the Council made a grant of some of 
the Plate belonging to the Town — amongst other 
articles, a Silver Bowl — to Newton, to defray some 
further expenses Ue had been put to ; and in 1646 
we find a further sum of sixteen pounds was ordered 
him, to be paid quarterly, in satisfaction of all 
demands. 

The October Burghmote of 1640 also appointed a 
Committee to repay the expenses of Caleb Banks 
and the others who were fined in 1636. 

The various political and religious discussions at 
this time engendered a vast amount of bitter party 
feeling, and when the Communion Rails were ordered 
to be erected in the Church, the greatest opposition 
was manifested. 



Ill 

It had also been the custom to sit during the 
singing in some churches in the neighbourhood, it 
seems, with their hats on, and great was the wrath 
of Barrell's opponents when he endeavoured to 
persuade them to stand at this portion of Divine 
worship. Sir John Culpepper, in the House of 
Commons, gravely declared that these things were 
rank Popery, and Sir Edward Dering presented a 
petition to Parliament against Episcopacy, which 
was concocted in Maidstone and its immediate 
vicinity. 

The petition presented by Dering amongst other 
things complains that the Clergy " have practised 
" and inforced antiquated and obselete ceremonies 
" as Standing at Hymns, at Gloria Patri, and turning 
" to the East at several parts of the Divine Service 
" bowing to the Altar, which they tearm the place of 
" God's residence upon earth ; the reading of a 
" Second Service at the Altar ; and denying the 
" Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist to such as have 
" not come up to a new Rayle before the Altar." 

They also speak of men apprehended " by Pursi- 
" vants, without citation or missives first sent ;" a 
mode of proceeding which was adopted against 
Barrell's most powerful rival in the neighbourhood 
of Maidstone, namely, The Rev. Thomas Wilson, 
the Rector of Otham, and now, as he plays an im- 
portant part in the Church affairs of Maidstone, a 
short sketch of his life would seem desirable. 



CHAPTER XII. 

1640 to 1648. 
Thomas Wilson, the Puritan Divine ; Wilson at Othanl Sus- 
pended by the Court of High Commission ; Sir Edward Dering ; 
Bering's reception by Archbishop Laud ; Party feeling in Maid- 
stone and its neighbourhood. 



Thomas Wilson, a native of Catterlen, in Cumber 
land, was born in the year 1601. After exhibiting 
great proficiency at school, he was sent to the 
University of Cambridge. He entered at Christ's 
College, and, continuing there for three years, left 
at the age of twenty, with the Degree of B.A. The 
next four years saw him employed as a tutor, at a 
school in Surrey. He was then ordained, and pre- 
sented with the living of Capel, in the same county. 
From this he removed to Farlington, in Hampshire, 
and subsequently to Teddington, in Middlesex. 
There he married a lady moving in a much higher 
station than himself, and which the lady's friends 
resented. She unfortunately died a few months after 
their wedding. Twelvemonths after this he married 
the daughter of a London merchant. Eleven chil- 
dren were the fruits of this union, ten of whom 
survived him. Wilson, during his residence at 
Tedington, had acquired some degree of celebrity in 
London as an able preacher, but having many 
Puritan tendencies. 



113 

The town of Maidstone was at this time divided 
into two violent sections — the Episcopalians and the 
Puritans. This latter party were at first but small 
in numbers compared with their opponents, and they 
bethought them of a plan to have, if possible, a 
preacher of their own way of thinking. Just then 
the Incumbent of Otnam (a village two miles from 
Maidstone) died, and Mr. Robert Swinnocke, one of 
the Jurats of Maidstone, and a great adversary of 
Barrell's, purchased the presentation to the living, 
The next move was the selection of their man ; 
accordingly, Swinnocke and some of his friends 
made a pilgrimage to London, to see whom 
they could procure. After some little trouble 
in town, they hear of Wilson, and, finding 
that he was to preach at Dorking, journey 
thither accordingly. Wilson's preaching decided them, 
and after the sermon they introduced themselves, 
and the offer of the Rectory of Otham was made to 
him. Wilson requested time to consider this business, 
and ultimately accepted the presentation, and 
entered on his duties in 1630. At Otham his 
popularity with his party was very great, preaching 
two sermons on Sundays, a rare occurrence just 
then, and not only keeping the Saints days, but also 
preaching on those occasions, and sometimes at 
funerals. 

With Swinnocke and his friends, now joined some of 
Barrell's former congregation, who made it a regular 
habit to attend the services of the neighbouring 



114 

Church of Otham, and this created further dissen- 
tions in the town. When the unfortunate Book of 
Sports came out, Wilson refused to announce it to 
his congregation, to use his own words, "not out 
of any contempt of any authority," but as being 
"contrary to the laws of the Kingdom and the 
Canons of the Church." On*Wilson's refusal, he 
was suspended by the iniquitous Court of High Com- 
mission, and leaving Otham, Wilson came to reside 
in Maidstone, where his friends supported him, and, 
it is to be feared, drove him to extremes in his views 
of religious matters. Four years after this he was 
restored to his Rectory, but unfortunately the 
Prayer against the Scots was then ordered to be used. 
Wilson declined reading it on the ground that the 
Rubric enjoined that no Prayer should be publicly 
read except those that were in the Book of Common 
Prayer. For this he was summoned by the Arch- 
bishop to a Visitation at Faversham, which he at- 
tended, but no charge was then made against him. 
In 1640, a warrant was issued for his apprehension, 
but Wilson left Otham and concealed himself at the 
house of George Haule, of Maidstone. When the 
Parliament was summoned to meet, Wilson travelled 
to London, in company with Sir Edward Dering, 
whose political character has been aptly described as 
" endeavouring to keep with the hare while he ran 
"with the hounds." Wilson had been known to, 
and had corresponded with Bering for some years 
before this journey, although an endeavour has been 
made to show that this was their first meeting. 



115 

On the tenth of November Sir Edward Derinor 

o 

presented a petition to the House of Commons, in 
favour of Wilson, in which it is stated that Wilson 
is "a man orthodox in his doctrine, conformable in 
" his life, labourious in the ministry, as any we have, 
" or I do know." 

Sir Edward Bering gave the Parliament an 
account of his reception by Archbishop Laud on the 
same business — " About a week since I went over to 
" Lambeth, to move that great bishop (to great 
" indeed) to take this danger off from this minister, 
" and to recall the puisivant, and withal I did under- 
" take for Master Wilson, that he should answer his 
" accusers in any of the King's Courts at West- 
" minster. The bishop made me answer (as near as 
14 1 can remember), in hcec verba : 'I am sure that 
t; ' he will not be absent from his cure a twelvemonth 
tc ' t ogether, and then (I doubt not) but once in a 
" ' year we shall have him.' This was all I could 
" obtain, but I hope (by the help of this house) 
" before this year of threats runs round, his 
11 Grace will either have more Grace, or no Grace 
" at all." 

Nothing was then done in Wilson's affairs, and he 
again returned to Otham, where his popularity was 
greater than ever ; and Maidstone getting more dis- 
tracted than before, Sir John Sedley, of St. Clere, 
Ightham, in a letter written in this year, says, " I 
"find these parts, especially about Maidstone, so 
"poisoned with faction, and so full of falsehood and 



116 

" treachery, that I know not how to judge of their 
" integrity, unless I did see their hearts, which it 
'* were happy that some of them were anatomized to 
" that purpose." Sedley knew the town well, having 
been Captain of the Trained Bands quartered in it 
since the year 1628. 

A most determined onslaught was made on 
Barrell in the year 1640. Just then it was the 
fashion to rake up all the charges possible to be 
made against the Clergy by their opponents, and 
petitions to " a committee of Religion," appointed by 
Parliament, — and of which Sir Edmund Denng was 
Chairman, and one of the prime movers — were pro- 
moted from many parishes in Kent. Some of these 
documents were very extraordinary ; in one the 
Yicar of Dartford is accused of maintaining that 
" almsgiving was better than prayers." The Vicar 
of Caple that " he doth rayle against the Scots in his 
" pulpit, and out of his pulpit, calling them dogs 
" and divils, and says he knows not how to call them 
"bad enough." The Yicar of Tonbridge, that he 
" drank healths." .Another incumbent is accused of 
giving his parishioners more of the "Law than the 
Gospel." From Dover a petition was also forwarded^ 
but the charges were so exaggerated, that another 
memorial followed, in which they confess " by the 
" instigation of a malignant humour, they had been 
"too precipitate in preferring articles against our 
Curate," whose goodness is acknowledged, but 
" that he seemed to carry himself something too 
" lofty, and to be hasty towards us, which thing we 



117 

"persuade ourselves will be much amended;" 
and another parish complains ;; that formerly there 
41 was but one Pope throughout all Christendom ; 
" but now there is a Pope in every parish." 
Maidstone did not fail to follow these examples, and 
on the Seventeenth of May, 1640, the following 
petition was presented to the committee : — 

" To the Honorable the House of Commons assembled in 
Parliament. 

The humble peticion of the Inhabitants of the Kings 
towne and parish of Maidstone, in the Countie of Kent, 

Shewefch, 

That whereas our towne and parish is verie greate and 
populous, consisting of or about six thousand inhabitants, 
and the tithes thereof amounting to the yearlie value of 
£400, at the least, and having but one parish church for 
so greate a people to repaire unto ; the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, being our parson, and recieving ail our tithes 
and profitts, hath taken no further care for us, but to 
continue over us one Robert Barrell, his Curat there, who 
is thus qualified. 

I. He is verie carelesse and negligent in his place, 
himself sometymes not preaching amongst us above once in 
a month or 5 weekes, except it bee a funerall sermon, where- 
in he aymeth more at his owne gayne than our good : and 
when he preacheth, he very of tens strikes at sincerity and 
forwardnesse in profession, under the names of faction, 
schisme, and singularity. 

II, When the said Mr. Barrell is absent, or will not 
preach himself, he setts up in his place (too frequently) such 
as by their abillietie cause rather dirision to the people then 
matter of edification ; and although wee have offered to 
choose an able man, and to maynetayne hym at our owne 



118 

charge, who might take paynes to instruct us in the after- 
noones on Sabbath daies (necessarie occasions hindering 
servants and others in the forenoones), yet he refuseth ; by 
reason whereof much ignorance, lewdness, and disobedience 
doth raigne amongst us. And noe wonder why he is thus 
negligent, (and) averse, himselfe haveing said hee hath not 
the cure of our soules. 

III. Hee is not onlie negligent hymselfe to preach ; but 
hath alsoe rebuked a paineful neighbouring mynyster for 
preaching twice on the Sabbath dayes, telling hym that he 
had power to crush halfe a douzen such as he and Mr. 
Wilson were, and that the said mynyster did much disgrace 
the clergie by preaching twice on the Sabbath daies ; and 
that preaching in the afternoone was but prating and 
babling. 

IV. Hee hath sett himselfe with all violence, to molest 
and prosecute in the Ecclesiastical Courts such as being 
well affected to the Word preached, have gone from their 
owne parish to heare a sermon on the Sabbath daie, in the 
afternoone, though he refuse to preach himselfe, whereby 
he hath much sadded their hearts, and wasted their 
estates. 

Y. By his owne confession, he hath brought Innovacions 
into our church, causing the Communion Table to be sett 
up to the wall, at the east end of the chancel,* and there to 
be railed in ; himself hath given adoracion to the said table, 
and vehemently urgeth the people to come upp to the raile 

*The choir of Maidstone Church should not be called the 
chancel. No one conversant with the details of the ancient ar- 
rangement, which included the Choir proper, the Presbytery, the 
High Altar, North Aisle, South Aisle, St. Thomas Chapel, 
Corpus Chriti Chapel, beside other matters, would think of 
calling this a chancel. It gave rise to some discussion, and occa- 
sionally a reference to legal authorities at various times for 
nearly two centuries. The Rectors — that is the Archbishops — 
Chancel, has only been denned by mutual consent within the 
last few years. 



119 

(if they will partake of the Sacrament), and hath, "broken 
out into such rage and passion against such as have forborne 
to come to receive the Communion at the said raile, that 
many, whose consciences are weake and tender, have re- 
frained to come to the Sacrament, and others he hath scited 
to the Ecclesiastical Court at Canterbury for not coming. 

VI. Hee hath the Rectorie of Boughton Malherbe, in 
the Countie aforesaid, and is not there resident, but leaveth 
his people to an hireling. 

VII. Hee is verie covetous and contentious, exacting 
of us more and greater tithes and other duties than have 
been formerlie paid or are due ; and citeth, sueth, and vexeth 
those that will not pay hym his demands, whereby many 
are inforced to paie hym what he will have, to avoide charge 
and trouble. And the better fco inable himselfe in these his 
vexatious suits, he hath gott a lease of the Archbishop of 
parte of the Vicaridge tUfees. 

VIII. Hee is a common taverne hunter, to the great 
offence of some, the evill example of others, and greate 
scandall of the Mynystry. He is of a haughtie and proud 
carriage, discountenancing Magistracie, verie envious, and 
of a conversacion altogether unsutible to his function. 

Villi. Hee hath had many Curats under hym, most of 
them being pott companions, of a verie scandalous and of 
an eville life, one of them leaving a bastard child behind 
hym in our towne, and others of them gamsters ; many of 
them coussining and defrauding poore tradesmen, by getting 
their goods into their hands, and then running away j few 
of them but idle, unable, unapt to teach. . 

X. The said Mr. Barrell himselfe hathe beene indicted 
for grosse and palpable perjury. 

Wherefore we doe most humbly beseech this honorable 
assembly to take into your consideracion these our grei- 
vances ; and to do for us, in all things therein, as to your 



120 



grave and godly wisdome shall s'eeme best expedient, and 
wee, as in duty bound, shall ever pray. 



John Bigg. 
Andrew Broughton. 
Martin Jeffery, Mair. 
Thomas Swinnocke. 
Ambrose Beale. 
Rob. Swinnocke. 
Caleb Bankes. 
Samuel Marshall. 
Robert Withinbroke. 
George Maplesden. 
Henry English. 
Richard Crispe. 
George Hall. 

Thomas Swinnocke, Junr. 
John Wall. 
Francis- Lambe. 
John Lutwicke. 
George Maplesden, Junr. 
Thomas Swinnocke, Junr. 
Thomas Besbech. 
James Ruse. 
Thomas Crompe. 
Thomas Abraham. 
John Harris. 
Nicholas Wall. 
Thomas Stollton. 
John Hogben. 



Thomas Taylor. 
Samuel Verall. 
Robert Usborne. 
John Startout. 
Thomas Fletcher. 
Richard Dan. 
Nicolas Milles. 
Henry Wightman. 
Thomas Wightman. 
Thomas Cripps. 
Robert Philips. 
James Newenham. 
Rob. Marshall. 
Peter Maylem. 
Joseph Broke. 
Joseph Keley. 
Richard Wattell. 
Edward Pierce. 
Nicholas Segar. 
Mildmay Maplesden. 
Waltr Godden. 
John Wilmot. 
Edward May. 
Thomas Walter. 
Robert Brooke. 
Robert Bigg." 



An endeavour was made by the Royalists to present 
a petition to Parliament, two years afterwards, from the 
" Gentry,Ministers, and Commonalty of the County of 
" Kent," which, was agreed upon at the Maidstone 
Assizes in March, 1642. In this document they 
" hope to find as gentle and as favourable reception 
u of this, as any others have found of their Petitions," 
and " that the Solemne Liturgy of the Church of 
" England, celebrious by the Pyety of holy Bishops 
"and Martyrs who composed it, — established by 



121 

" the supream law of ye land, — attested and ap- 
" proved by the best of all forraign divines ; con- 
" firmed with subscription of all the Ministry of this 
" land, a Cleargy as learned and as able as any in 
" the Christian world, enjoyed, and with an holy love 
" embraced, by the most and best of all the Layety, 
" — that this holy exercise of our religion may, by 
"your auctoryty bee enjoyed quiet and free from 
" interruptions, storms, prophanations, threats, and 
" force of such men who dayly doe deprave it, and 
" neglect the use of it in diverse churches. " 

This petition contained other clauses relating to 
the troubles of the times, but was never presented, 
as four days after an order was issued by the Speaker 
of the House of Commons to arrest those who had 
been concerned in it, and the few of the Jurats of 
Maidstone who had assisted in this petition were 
illegally expelled from the Town Council by their 
Puritan brethren, a fact which was remembered at the 
Restoration, when those who had survived to that 
time were reinstated. Barrell contrived to keep 
himself tolerably clear of the Puritans until the next 
year, 1643, when, having preached a sermon in the 
Parish Church on one of the Sundays in April, and 
perhaps alluding to the dissensions of that unhappy 
time, was ordered to appear before the House of 
Commons to give an account of his opinions. 
By the House, Barrell was ordered into custody, 
where he remained until he petitioned, when an 
order for bail was made, and a motion carried that 
the Curacy of Maidstone should be sequestrated. 

Q 



122 

Barrell knew, from other instances of a similar kind, 
that he could expect no mercy from the Puritans, 
and therefore very probably was not at all surprised 
to find himself ejected from the incumbency of 
Maidstone, and making one of nearly seven thousand 
similarly treated. 

The living was placed under the orders of George 
Hall, Gervase Maplesden, Robert Swinock, Caleb 
Banks, Robert Withinbrook, James Rose, and 
Andrew Broughton, who were appointed seques- 
trators. 

Barbell seems to have disappeared from this neigh- 
bourhood, as no trace of him is afterwards found, 
and with the rest of the loyalist clergy may have 
suffered great privations. He had been incumbent 
from 1620 to 1643, in which latter year his stipend 
appears to have been £80 per annum. 

If we may judge of Barrell by his literary remains, 
we should most certainly say that he was not at all 
inclined to what was laid to his charge, namely, 
Popery ; Barrell had the misfortune, however, to 
be possessed of a haughty, overbearing temper, and 
was the Curate of Archbishop Laud. Amongst 
other works of Barrell's preserved, is a sermon 
dedicated to Archbishop Abbott, preached before a 
London congregation at St. Paul's Cross, in 1622^ 
entitled, li Spiritual Architecture, or The Ballance 
" of God's Sanctuary to discover the Weight and 
" Solidity of a True and Sincere, from the Levity 
" and Vanity of a False and Counterfeit Profession 
" of Christianity ; Wherein also the Sandy Founda- 



123 

"tions of the Papistical Faith are discovered, by 
" Kobert Barrell, Minister of God's Worde at May- 
" deston, in Kent." 

The Church still bears witness of the treatment re. 
ceived at this time. It seems pretty certain that up to 
1642 the interior arrangement of the fabric had re- 
mained pretty nearly the same as left during the reign 
of Edward IV., but now the Monumental Brasses were 
torn up and destroyed, the Sedilia damaged, and the 
painting over the first Warden's tomb much 
mutilated. There is no doubt as to the period of 
this mischief, the date, with some wretched initials, 
are miserably scratched on the walls. About this 
time also the Organ disappeared ; and from a rare 
tract entitled, " A perfect Diurnal of the several 
"passages in our late journey into Kent, from 
"August 19th to September 3rd, 1642," we have a 
description of what was achieved in Maidstone and 
its neighbourhood at this period. During the Divine 
Service at Rochester Cathedral on St. Bartholomew's 
Day, between the hours of nine and ten in the morn- 
ing, a party of soldiers entered the Church, and 
marched up to the Lord's Table ; but finding that 
even this irreverence did not prevent the service 
from proceeding, they came down to the congrega- 
tion, who were then kneeling, and demanded why 
they knelt, not receiving any answer, they returned 
to the Altar, and seizing the Lord's Table, conveyed 
it to the middle of the Choir ; they then tore down 
the Communion Bails, mutilated the Altar Steps, 
and gave the rabble, who had followed them, the 



124 

pieces of the rails to burn, and " So left the Organs 
** to be plucked down till we come back again ; " but 
it appears the Rochester people were a match for 
them, as the writer says, " before we came back they 
took them down themselves." 

Leaving Rochester they marched on to Maid- 
stone, where they were quartered that Thursday 
night, to the great terror of the inhabitants, who, 
notwithstanding that it was market day, closed all 
their shops. The town was completely at their 
mercy, and this seems by corroborative evidence to 
have been the identical day on which the Church 
suffered so much by mutilation. 

On the Friday they proceeded to Canterbury 
where, as Dr. Pask, the Sub -Dean, tells us, the 
soldiers entered the Cathedral at eight o'clock on 
the Saturday morning, overthrew the Lord's Table, 
tore the velvet covering, defaced the Screen, violated 
the Monuments of the dead, spoiled the Organs, 
broke down the Rails and Seats, tore up the 
Surplices, Gowns, and bestrewing the pavements 
with the torn leaves of the Bibles and Prayer Books. 
A figure of our Lord placed over the South Gate 
was destroyed by forty shots being fired at it. 

This amiable party then visited Faversham and 
other places, and returned to Maidstone on the 
evening of Thursday, and again quartered there, 
to the great indignation of some of the inhabitants, 
whose rage at their doings knew no bounds, 
and they made the place so hot that the 
fellows were glad to depart the next day; 



125 

or, as the writer of the " Diurnal " says, il the town 
being troubled with malignant spirits, who burned so 
" inwardly with malice and hatred, that they could 
" no longer forbear ; " and one Maidstonian whose 
ire was raised, so disturbed the serenity of these 
fellows, that they carried him off as a prisoner, to be 
dealt with by the Parliament. 

This curious tract is embellished with a clumsily- 
executed sketch of soldiers destroying the East end 
of a Church. Two men are removing the Lord's 
Table, one is pulling down a Cross, another with a 
hatchet is chopping away at the Communion Rails, 
whilst a fifth is hastening, armed with a chopper, to 
assist his sacrilegious companions. 

In 1648 the Church was turned into a kind of 
fortress, on the occasion of the defeat of the Royalist 
army here on the first of June, 1648, when it seems 
that they retreated to the Church, which they held 
for some time, but were compelled at last to give it 
up, and make terms for their safety. In this engage- 
ment, sometimes called the Battle of Maidstone, 300 
were killed in the streets, and 1,380 prisoners taken. 
The fight lasted from seven in the evening until past 
twelve, during which time it was pouring with rain. 
On the surrender of the Church, about one o'clock 
in the morning, it was turned into a prison for the 
defeated Royalists. How long it was used for this 
purpose seems uncertain ; but some little time after, 
when matters were more quiet, Divine Service was 
again performed. 



126 

Barrell was succeeded in the incumbency by one 
Samuel Smith, who was appointed by that singular 
body, the " Committee of Plundered Ministers," an 
election which caused much disappointment 
to Wilson's party in Maidstone, who had made 
sure of Wilson's being appointed. After a few 
months Smith, seeing that he could make but 
little impression on Wilson's friends, agreed to resign, 
on condition of being presented to the Rectory of 
Harrietsham, a more valuable piece of preferment 
than Maidstone. By interest, which is not difficult 
to trace, the living of Harrietsham was procured for 
him, and to the great delight of Wilson's partisans, 
Wilson was appointed to the incumbency of All 
Saints' Church, still retaining the Rectory of Otham, 
by obtaining a Curate to take charge of that 
parish, notwithstanding that his party had made a 
very similar act, namely, " leaving his people to an 
*' hireling" — one of the charges against the unfortu- 
nate Barrell. 




CHAPTER XIII. 

1648 to 1653. 

The Services in Wilson's time ; The Free School ; Wilson's 
Troubles ; The Church locked up ; Andrew Boughton preached at ; 
Death of Wilson ; His Character. 



On Wilson's settlement in Maidstone, the Sunday 
services at All Saints' Church began so early as nine 
o'clock in the morning, and commenced with the 
singing of two or three verses of a Psalm ; an ex- 
tempore Prayer, then an exposition of some portion 
of the Old Testament. After this came the sermon, 
which occupied one hour. In order that the sermon 
should be properly timed, a large Hour Glass was 
bought, and which Wilson used in the pulpit. This 
glass was afterwards considered somewhat of a 
memento of Wilson by his friends, and it remained 
in the Yestry for many years after Wilson's death. 
We shall find it mentioned further on, and also 
in the inventory of the Church goods after the 
Restoration. 

With the sermon the Morning Service concluded, 
and the Afternoon Service was very similar to that 
of the morning, the only variation being that the 
exposition was taken from the New Testament 
instead of the Old. The Church Catechism had 



128 

been used during Wilson's residence at Otham, and 
he repeatedly expressed himself in favour of it ; but 
he now adopted another plan of instruction, namely, 
questioning the congregation on the services of the 
day. In the evening he would go to the house of 
his old friend Swinnocke, and, after partaking of 
supper, conclude with prayer, to which some of his 
friends were invited. This at last grew into a 
regular custom, and continued for some years, with 
a change of locality in the time of Wilson's succes- 
sor, when the Mayor and Jurats granted permission 
to hold these meetings in the Free School. The 
Court Hall had been desired, but the Corporation, 
in refusing this, granted the School Room instead. 
The freedom of the town was presented to Wilson 
in 1646, the entry in the Burghmote Book concern- 
ing which is as follows : — 

" The desire of Mr. Thomas Wilson our Minister to be a 
" freeman of this towne is accepted, and it is ordered that 
" the said Mr. "Wilson is and shall be free without any fine 
" for the same. And Mr. Maior is desired to see him take 
" his oath in some convenient time." 

In October the announcement was made that the 
oath had been administered, and Wilson was declared 
free. 

The Free School had been the occasion of several 
changes during the previous years. In 1642, the 
master, Thomas Elmstone, having sided with the 
Royalists, gave offence to the Puritan Council. In 
order to get rid of him, they passed a resolution 
that, as he had never been "lawfully chosen or placed 



129 

to "bee the master," he was to " bee from henceforth 
" utterly dismissed and discharged of the said place," 
and that " some other sufficient honest man may bee 
" chosen unto the said office." Elmstone did not 
leave, it seems, until about 1644, and a Mr. Richard 
Thomas succeeded him. Thomas gave offence in 
1650, and was also dismissed. A nominee of 
Broughton's — a "Mr. William Wyse, of Beeching 
" Lane, neere the cittie of London" — was then 
elected, and four months afterwards the Council 
report that the School was in bad order, the 
Scholars " being far short of what they ought to be," 
and complaint is made of the " School Master 
" himself in his deportment." This ended in Wyse's 
retirement, and the Council determined to elect the 
next master by a kind of public examination. For 
this purpose a committee was formed, in 1651, con- 
sisting of Wilson, the Recorder, " Mr. Barton, 
"Minister of Harrietsham, Mr. Freegift Tylden, 
" Minister of Langley, Mr. John Cromp, Minister of 
" Loose, and Mr. John Turner, Schoolmaster of 
" Town Mailing," any three of whom were to examine 
the candidates and report to the Council. In June 
they recommend Mr. Daniel Peake, who was elected, 
but the election was not confirmed, and in August a 
Mr. Patrick Heybourne arrives at Maidstone to 
undergo the test, but is not reported on. In Sep- 
tember there is really a promising candidate in the 
person of Mr. Nathaniel Hazard, M.A. A public 
examination is ordered to take place on the 24th of 
September, and "Inhabitants or strangers might also 



130 

"be present," with the proviso that they "decently 
" and civilly behaved themselves." At this event, 
which took place in the Schoolroom, Hazard was 
tested, in the presence of a great audience, by 
Wilson, "in the grounds of Eeligion, Grammar 1 
" Rhetorick, and Poetry in the Latine and Greeke 
" Toungues." After the examination was over, 
Wilson conferred with the Mayor and Jurats, and 
" did hope that Mr. Hazard, by his care and endea- 
" vours, might bee a helpfull and usefull instrument 
" in the said place for the instructing of youth, both 
" in religion and learning, and might likewise foster 
"his own Proficiency." Hazard was elected, and 
promised to take charge of the School about " a 
" seavenight hence." He was confirmed in his ap- 
pointment on the eighth of October, but unfortu- 
nately did not long enjoy his preferment. He died 
in the ensuing November, and was buried, on the 
eighth of that month, in All Saints' Churchyard. 

The entire charge of the School was now placed 
in Wilson's hands until the Council should elect a 
successor to poor Hazard. This arrangement con- 
tinued until October of the next year, 1652, when 
John Turner, of Mailing, one of the former umpires, 
was elected schoolmaster, "the Mayor, Jurats, and 
" Common Council then openly expressing, by Mr. 
" Recorder, their thankfull acknowledgment unto 
"Mr. Thomas Wilson — then likewise present — for 
" his care and paines which, at their request, hee had 
" bestowed in the said Schooled ' 



131 

Wilson was possessed of a superior intellect from 
the generality of the Puritan clergy of the Common- 
wealth. Twice he preached before the House of 
Commons at their command, and several times at the 
Assizes by special request of the Judges on circuit, 
and, contrary to the general practice of that day, 
composed and committed his sermons to writing 
previous to their delivery, notwithstanding that he 
was endowed with wonderful powers of memory. 
Wilson's greatest trouble was with the extreme 
portion of his hearers, the Independents. They 
evidently thought that Wilson did not go far enough 
with his alterations and opinions ; the consequence 
was that this section, although at first with him, 
separated and withdrew themselves from his minis- 
trations, and this was not without a considerable 
degree of acrimony. These parties, on their separa- 
tion, obtained possession of St. Faith's Chapel, which 
had been closed since the year 1634, and selected a 
minister of their own liking, and thus divided the 
town into three religious parties, instead of what 
had proved bad enough before, namely, two contend- 
ing elements. The disputes, as may be imagined, 
were none of the mildest, although it must be ad- 
mitted that Wilson did everything that lay in his 
power to promote peace, without sacrificing his own 
now thoroughly Presbyterian opinions. 

It must not be imagined that Wilson had every- 
thing his own way. In 1647 the Royalist portion of 
the parish made a great opposition to him in conse- 



132 

quence of his proceedings in connection with the 
Church being very distasteful to some of the old 
inhabitants, who were supported by the Churchwar- 
dens locking up the Church, and refusing to allow 
Wilson to officiate in the building. A riot was the 
result of these bickerings, during which the windows 
of the Mayor's and Wilson's houses were smashed. 

In this crisis Wilson went to London and appealed 
to the Committee of Plundered Ministers, as this 
most absurd body were called ; and they, taking 
upon themselves to control the ecclesiastical affairs 
of Maidstone, made the following order : — 

"Aug, 18, 1647. 
"Upon complaint made by Mr. Wilson, to whom the 
" Church of Maidstone, in the Countie of Kent, is seques- 
" tered, that he was, on the Lord's Day, in a tumultuous 
" manner, by divers riotous and disaffected persons, opposed 
" and disturbed in the exercise of his ministrations in the 
" said Church, and that the keyes of the Church doors are 
" taken away and detayned from the sequestraters of the 
" said Church, the same as is informed, being occasioned by 
" the disorderly carriage of the Churchwardens of the said 
" parish." 

" It is therefore ordered that the Churchwardens of the 
" said parish forthwith deliver or cause to be delivered unto 
" George Hall, G-ervase Maplesden, Esquires, Eobert Swinock 
"Caleb Banks, Kobert Withinbrook, James Euse, and 
" Andrew Broughton, Sequestrators of the said Church, or 
" one of them, the said keyes of the said Church, to the end 
"that the said Mr. Wilson may quietly officiate in the 
" charge of the said Church from tyme to tyme without any 
" further interuption." 



133 

Wilson, however, did not officiate at the Church 
until the next year, and then not without much 
trouble. 

Wilson disapproved of the execution of King 
Charles the First, and did not hesitate to express his 
opinion upon the subject, which was, it would appear, 
pretty generally re-echoed by the greater number of 
the inhabitants. Andrew Broughton had risen with 
his party until he was appointed, in the year 1648, 
one of the Clerks of the Court called together for 
the trial of King Charles, and Broughton read the 
sentence to the unfortunate King. On Broughton' s 
return from London, after the execution of Charles, 
he attended the usual Sunday services at All Saints'. 
Wilson happened on that day to preach a special 
sermon against the King's execution, and remarked^ 
with great emphasis, " that David's heart smote him 
" when he only cut off the skirt of Saul's garment, 
11 but men dared now-a-days to cut off the head of a 
" King without remorse.'' This observation had 
such an effect on Broughton that he rose up and left 
the Church. The noise made by Broughton in 
leaving the Church attracted the notice of Wilson, 
who u improved the occasion " by saying most 
pointedly that " when the Word of God comes home 
u to a man, it makes him fly for it."* After this 
public rebuke, Broughton could never face Wilson 
again at All Saints' Church, but had a Service of his 

* This anecdote is given by Newton, in his " History of Maid- 
stone," and in his manuscript notes he states that he received the 
information from one who was present and remembered the circum- 
stance -a Mr. Whetland. 



134 

own, conducted at the Free School, by a person 
named Whiston, who is stated by Calamy to have 
been one of the ejected ministers of Maidstone— a 
statement untrue, as Whiston was never possessed 
of ecclesiastical preferment in Maidstone. 

Wilson died in March, 1653, his death being caused 
by fever. Just before he died he called some of the 
congregation together at his bedside, and, evidently 
foreseeing the troubles which afterwards happened, 
recommended them to procure the appointment, if 
possible, of John Crompe as his successor. Wilson's 
interest for his congregation was manifested in many 
ways as his death drew near. Not long before he 
died he said to those who stood around him, "I bless 
" God, who hath suffered me to live so long to do 
" Him some service, and now, after I have done the 
" work appointed me, is pleased to call me away so 
" soon." He died on a Sunday, and was buried on 
the twenty-second of March, 1653, at the age of 
fifty-two. 

Wilson was a strict Puritan. Unfortunately, he 
had been driven, by Laud's ill-advised persecutions, 
from moderate to extreme opinions. During his 
residence at Otham, he states that " on the days 
" appointed by the Church, namely, Wednesdays, 
" Fridays, and all the Eves, constantly I did instruct 
" by question and answer in the Catechism, such as 
" come to Prayers ;" and when then accused of being 
against the doctrine of the Church of England, he 
says, u I utterly deny all occasion of derogating 



135 

" from the Church of England, or confirmation of 
" any in the dislike of Government, and protest 
" against all such aspersions and imputations of 
" schism or scandal ;" and to other charges of 
similar import he sajs, "I deny the whole and every 
part." When he came to reside at Maidstone, the 
Frayer Book was forbidden, and Wilson had gone 
with the stream and had changed his opinions. 

The most serious charge against Wilson is that he 
allowed himself to be the cat's-paw of some of the 
Corporation during Barrell's incumbency ; in fact 
as before stated, he was brought into this neigh- 
bourhood for the purpose of decoying Barrell's 
parishioners to Otham. Then Barrell reported him 
to Archbishop Laud, and of course, with the temper 
of the times came persecution, and then the infamous 
Court of High Commission. This soured Wilson, 
and drove him to do things which, possibly, without 
this provocation, he would not have done. At all 
events, it made him a Presbyterian. His personal 
character was excellent. When he came to Maid- 
stone, he pleaded hard, in many cases, for those 
opposed to him in opinion, and many a kind action 
and charitable deed can be justly laid to the account 
of Thomas Wilson, the Puritan incumbent of 
Maidstone. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

1653 to 1660. 

John Crompe ; The Commonwealth Registration ; Singular 
Names ; Itinerant Preachers ; Council Orders for Astley's 
Monument ; Disturbances with Itinerants ; Reception of two 
Quakers in Maidstone ; Order against Intruders in the Church ; 
Order for a Bible ; Retirement of Crompe ; Something about the 
so-called Ejected. 



As Wilson, on his deathbed, had expressed a wish 
that John Crompe, the son of his old friend Crompe, 
should succeed him, interest with the governing 
powers was successfully made in Crompe's behalf. 
Crompe was a man of most amiable disposition, but 
of no learning, and also lacking that power of com- 
manding attention, so inherent in Wilson, and, it 
would seem, of a weakly constitution. During 
Crompe's incumbency, the new act respecting Regis- 
tration took effect. It is thus recorded in the 
Parish Registers : — 
"Septr.29, 1653. 

"Henry Peirce, of the Town of Maidstone, in 
" County of Kent, being chosen by the said Town and 
" Parish, was this day sworn before me, John Sanders, Mair 
" of the same Town and Parish, and Justice of the Peace 
" there. And I do approve of him to be Registrar accor- 
" dingly to an Act of this present Parliament, intituled 
" * An Act touching Marriages and regestering thereof, and 
<• * also touching Births and Burials.' 

"JOHN SANDERS, Maior." 



137 

Some extraordinary proceedings took place occa- 
sionally under this act : here is one. Abraham 
H — and Mary E — presented themselves to be 
married, but Lambard Godfrey, the Recorder, ob- 
jected to the marriage taking place, on the ground 
that the lady "did not seem to be of competent 
" understanding to dispose of herself in marriage." 
Mary E — 's case was brought before the Bench of 
Justices, and adjourned for a few days. In the 
interim three Justices of the Peace were deputed by 
their brethren to wait on the lady, in order that she 
might undergo an examination on the subject. Mary 
E — , however, gave very satisfactory answers to all 
questions, and the Justices decided that there was 
no impediment, and the affair came to a happy ter- 
mination by their marriage in July, 1654. 

The proceedings in these Cromwellian marriages 
were as follows : — The names to be given to the 
Registrar of the parish twenty-one days before the 
intended wedding, with all necessary particulars as 
to place of abode, &c, which were duly published 
three successive Sundays, at the close of the morning 
exercise in the publique place— the puritan name for 
the Church — or on market days in the market place, 
between the hours of eleven and two, after which, if 
no impediment existed, they were married by a 
Justice of the Peace in this manner — 

" The man to be married, taking the woman to be 
" married by the hand, shall plainly and distinctly 
" pronounce these words — 



138 

" ' I, A. B., do here in the presence of God the 
"' searcher of all hearts, take thee, CD., for my 
" ' wedded wife, and do also in the presence of G-od and 
" ' before these witnesses, promise to be unto thee a 
" 'loving and faithful husband.' 

" And then the woman, taking the man by the 
" hand, shall plainly and distinctly pronounce these 
" words — 

"'I, CD., here in the presence of God the 
11 6 searcher of all hearts, take thee, A. B., for my 
"' wedded husband, and do also in the presence 
" ' of God and before these witnesses, promise 
" 4 to be unto thee a loving, faithful, and obedient 
"'wife.'" 

The Justice was then to declare them to be man 
and wife. No other marriage was to be valid within 
the Commonwealth. In another act passed in 1656, 
the words, " no other marriage to be valid," was 
purposely omitted. 

A great many of the Maidstone marriages were 
published by the Town Crier in the market place on 
Thursdays, but after the alteration in the act of 
1656, the majority of the marriages were celebrated 
in the Church by the Minister. 

We do not find that the Maidstone people gave 
their children such grotesque names as are to be 
found in the neighbouring counties, Sussex for 
instance, where during the Commonwealth we hear 
of " Search-the-Scriptures Moreton," " Kill-Sin- 
Pemble," " Fight-the-Good-Fight-of-Faith White," 



139 

" Small-Hope Biggs." We have indeed at the ad- 
joining parish of Boxley, so early as the year 1612, 
a child baptised by the name of " Repent-in Tyme," 
who was born on the ninth and died on the nine- 
teenth of October ot that year. The same parish 
also rejoiced in a Godly Argles, who was born in 
1634; whilst the parish of Loose registers the birth 
of " Be-thankful Brook" in 1613. Maidstone itself, 
however, was particularly free during the Crom- 
wellian era, when so much of this curious name 
mania prevailed in other districts. The Minister of 
East Farleigh, near Maidstone, who sometimes 
assisted Crompe in his duties at All Saints' Church, 
was called ll Repent Nichols," a person of whom we 
shall have to make further mention ; and the 
Minister of Langley rejoiced in the name of i4 Free- 
gift Tylden." 

Maidstone, like many other places, was overrun 
with pretended spiritual teachers during the Great 
Rebellion, and more especially after Wilson's death. 
Wilson being an educated man, was enabled to 
maintain a certain independant position, and ignorant 
people were afraid of the man who it is said could 
repeat the greater part of the Bible from memory, so 
that the parish was not then inundated with tinkers 
and cobblers, who pretended to have " a eall,' 
and under this delusion to commit the greatest 
absurdities. 

Not so, however, after Wilson's death, for then 
these people came to Maidstone in great numbers, 



140 

sometimes gathering a crowd in the streets of the 
town, and without permission marching off to the 
" Publique place ;" sometimes called for brevity's sake 
the " Publique " only. Kival orators addressed the 
assembly at the same time, and the language made 
use of seems to have been most dreadful, and 
frequently ending in uproar, fighting, and consequent 
desecration of the sacred edifice. 

The Council, who thought it not convenient just 
then to notice these matters, still issued orders 
respecting the Church, and two specimens are 
curious as showing that they had usurped certain 
rights as regards the Chancel. 
"Jan. 20, 1652. 

" At the request of the Lady Astley, widow and 
" relict of Sir Jacob Astley, lately deceased, It is at this 
" Cowrte considered unto and agreed that she shall and may 
" have the libertie of laying and placeing of a stone over the 
"corps of her said deceased husband lyinge now buryed in 
" the Chauncell of the Parish Church of Maidstone. 

" The said Stone not being above three foote in height, 
" five foote in breadth, and seaven foote in length, and aisoe 
" to place or sett an Iron Grate about the said Stone." 
" August 10, 1653. 

" At the request of Sir Norton Knatchbull 
" Knight, it is at this Cowrt considered into and agreed 
" that he shall and may have the liberty of setting or placing 
" of a Stone in the wall, in the Chaunsell of the Parish 
" Church of Maidstone, neer unto an inscription already set 
" against a table placed over the corps of Sir Jacob Astley, 
u and according to the form of the stone on which the in- 
" scription is made, which said stone so to be placed not 
fi exceeding six foot in length and seaven foot in height." 



141 

Crompe, who was exceedingly amiable in disposi- 
tion, found much trouble in the management oj 
ecclesiastical affairs, and, not having the tact * t and 
learning of his predecessor and friend, was soon 
involved in many difficulties. The Corporation, 
however, supported the son of their old friend, and 
in 1654 allowed him the use of the School for the 
repetition of the sermons preached at All Saints' in 
the morning and afternoon. The resolution of the 
Mayor and Jurats upon this point was worded thus : 

" July 3rd, 1654. 

" Upon a Motion now made at the desire of Mr. 
" Crompe, the minister of this parish, that the libertie may 
" be granted unto him of the Scholehouse any Lords daies 
" in the evening, for the repetition of the Sermons preached 
" in the publique place uppon the Lords daies, and unto 
" those as shall from time to time desire to partake thereof 
" and of other duties of piety at the said times, — It is or- 
" dered that the said libertie be allowed for the purposes 
" aforsaid.'" 

The next year the disturbances with the itinerant 
preachers increased, and most profane things were 
done by them. Some unquiet spirits got into 
trouble occasionally for making these disturbances. 
Amongst others two Quakers, named John Stubs and 
William Caton, were charged before the Mayor and 
Recorder with creating disorders in March, 1655? 
and one of the noises occurred in the "Steeple- 
house," as they called the Church. They wrote an 
account of their reception in this town, copies of 
which are so very rare that we have reprinted a 



142 

great portion from that presented by George 
the Fourth to the British Museum : — 

" A TRUE 

DECLAEATION 

OF 

THE BLOODY PROCEEDINGS 

OF 

THE MEN IN MAIDSTONE IN THE COUNTY 

OF 

KENT, 

Who write against themselves John Allen, Mayor ; Lambert 
Godfrey, Recorder ; John Chantler, Constable ; against John 
Stubs, William Caton, who, by the scornful generation of 
men, are called Quakers. 

"After nine or ten weeks travel and labour William 
Caton and John Stubs, into several towns and village in the 
county of Kent, wee came into Maidstone upon the 27th day 
of the third moneth, being the first day of the week, about 
the third hour in the after part of the day, having bin 
at a Baptist meeting the former part, at a place called 
Bauton Green, 2 or 3 miles distant from the said Maidstone, 
and coming thither as aforesaid, we went to one Whetstone's 
house, tho' unknown to him or any man outwardly in the 
town ; and continueing there about half an hour, one of us 
went to the Steeplehouse, where a people called Presbyte- 
rians meets, and the other went to a place where a people 
called Independents were, and when they that were set up to 
teach them had done, and all silent, we spoke ; but with 
scorn and contempt, I who were in the Steeplehouse, was 
put forth, but in the Steeplehouse-yard I spoke something to 
the people, 'til that one John Chantler. constable, came to me 
fury and put me away, and gave another constable charge 
with me, and by him carried to the stocks, where I was kept 
awhile, and then brought me forth, and was had before one 
who writes himself Lambert Godfrey, ealled a Justice of 
Peace and Recorder, and there by him was examined what 



143 

I was, and from where I came ; my education in my youth 
and needless queries not worth mentioning ; but what I was 
free in the Lord to answer to I did, nothwithstanding his 
malicious intentions against me, as afterwards appeared. 
I told him for the most part, from a child I was kept at the 
school until was seventeen or eighteen years of age, and 
some years after I was banished forth of my countrey in the 
Bishops and Prelates time for the testimony of a good con- 
science, because I could not bow to that image, which was 
by them set up, and maintained by that power, and after- 
wards I was souldier neer from the beginning of the warrs 
in the Northern parts, and told him when I came out of the 
soldiery, and the cause wherefore, then he asked what em- 
ployment I followed since, and how I lived, I told him I 
lived with my wife and children in BlshopricTc, nameing the 
place where, but still he urged upon me again and again to 
know what I wrought, and how I lived, and who maintained 
me. I told him the Lord maintained me, and in Him I lived T 
moved, and had my being, but that would not satisfie him ; 
I must tell him what I followed for an outward livelihood. 
Then I told him that I had a Tenement of Land, which did 
aford me a sufficiency in the outward. Then saith hee, you 
are a Husbandman. I replied that I was a little brought up 
with it, but thou may write me what thou wilt, and he said he 
would set me to work to-morrow, and get a Master. So he 
write a Mittimus, and sends me to prison to a place in the 
town called the Brambles, and the next day I was called 
before him the said Godfrey, and John Allen, Mayor, and 
then examined again, part of which I have already related 
in his former examination, which he again quired. In the 
second examination they demanded further the moneth and 
yeer I came off the warrs, and many other foolish and need- 
less qustions, which were tedious to relate, and he asked me 
the time when I came from my outward being, and when I 
came to London, and my continuance and employment 



144 

there. I told him my employment and work was to wait 
upon the Lord, to write and speak as I was moved of the 
Lord against the deceit of Priest and People." 

The examination was continued further, after 
which he was sent to " hold againe " during a con- 
sultation ; they then sent for him, and 

" Told me they had provided a Master for me, 
" and they brought forth a statute, and told me my 
" wages was four pounds a yeer, and meat and drinke. I 
" answered, "Wilt thou compel me to serve this man against 
" my will ? Here thou wilt exercise the office of a Tyrant. 
"Produce' one sentence and clause of law which I have 
" broken ; if I have, let me suffer accordingly, and make it 
" appear before this people wherein I have transgressed, or 
" wherein thou hast power to make me a slave in thy will to 
" become another man's servant, and to limit me wages and 
" time. What Law hast thou for this ? man, fear the 
" Lord, and plead the cause of the innocent, and know that 
"one day thou shalt finde G-od will judge thee, and that 
" justly j and therefore be aware what thou dost, see that 
" thou act not against me in thy own will, one sentence and 
" clause of Law bring forth against me, let not thy will bee 
" a Law. I am no childe that thou needs to tender 
"any such thing to me as a Master. I deny it. And I 
" spoke to him that they called my Master : Friend, thou 
" wilt get no service of me against my will, yet idleness I 
" deny in myself, and declares against it in others, in my 
" calling and in my work I am, and he that called mee and 
"sets mee on worke is the Lord, which you know not. 
" Then they sent me to prison again ; all this while my deer 
" fellow-labourer and fellow-sufferer was absent from me» 
"being not then had to prison by those people called 
" Independants, but was at liberty in his Lodging, where hee 



145 

" was all night, at an Inne in the Towne ; but soon after 
" they had done with mee, they sent for him." 

He pleads that he did not interrupt tne Minister, 
but only spoke when his glass was run out. 

He then details the examination of W.C., who, it 
appears, was staying " an an Inne at the signe of the 
" Bell in Maidstone." The questions and results 
were very similar to those of his companion. He 
then continues — 

" When they had thus examined us severally, they put us 
" together, where I the said J. S. had been all night, and shortly 
" after the G-oaler came and told us we had our liberty for 
u paying our Fees ; we told him we could not pay ; he said, 
{i We must be paid. So he took us forth, and the said 
u Chauntler and another constable took us away by Warrant 
u with their black staves of power, to conduct us to another 
" prison, called the Bridewell" 

He goes on to say — 

•* Thus were we carryed, as af orsaid, to that place where the 
<; man took usintocustodie, and then searched us narrowly, and 
" took our money, our Bibles, Gloves, Ink-horns, Knives, 
" Papers, and such things as we had in our Pockets from us, 
M and then had into a Room, where we were stripped naked, 
u and our Legs and Arms pat in the Stocks, and there 
" whipped with cords in the sight of many, which forced 
"teares from our adversaries, and they that were to see 
u execution done desired him severall times to hold his hand 
11 before he did, bat he was as partial! in executing his office 
" as the Recorder and the Mayor was unjust in their bloody 
" proceedings against us, without any just colour of Law, for 
" he gave my deare fellow W. C. more stripes than I goti 
a though by then: own sentence a lesser offender." After 
this they were ironed, and " the Execationer commanded us 
" to work," which they refused. After four days they were 

T 



146 

released, and conveyed " from officer to officer to our own 
" country." Chantler burnt the papers found in their pos- 
session, " precious papers, which tended to the destruction of 
" Sin : To the advancement of Holines : That Satan's 
"Kingdom might be defaced," that people might be brought 
" from under the teachings of Hirelings, which Jeremy 
" cryed against, and from the teaching of Dumb Dogs and 
"Greedy Dogs, which can never have enough." A little 
more of this sort of language, and he adds — " In which 
" state you are Godfrey, Allen and Chauntler." " You exceed 
" the tyranny of the Bishops and Prelates, and Justices, and 
" Recorders which were in power then. Lambert Godfrey , 
" Recorder, John Allen, Mayor, John Chantler, you are 
" recorded to be persecuters of the Just and worse than your 
" forfathers." 

Stubs also pleads that he did not interrupt the 
teacher at the Steeplehouse, but waited until his 
glass was run. He then continues — 

"And whereas we were seized upon and apprehended, the 
" one at an Inne, the other at the Steeplehouse, neither of 
" us had an} 7 Law transgressed, wherein it doth plain appear 
" that it was onely your wills that were crossed." 

They go on with more of this sort of thing, and 
intersperse their writing with much profanation, and 
wind up with a summons for Maidstone to 

" Come to repentance, that for the time to come you 
" may be awarned, how you exercise your cruelty upon the 
"innocent, to that which is just in you all we speak, which 
"is your condemnation for your unjust proceedings. John 
" Stubs, William Caton." 

The Printer, Mr: Giles Calvert, also has a fling at 

" You at Maidstone who have shewed your unworthiness 
" in not receiving the Servants of the Lord," ending with 
" Remember in the day of your calamity and condemna- 



147 

" tion, that in your life time you were warned, and that 
u the Messengers of God were amongst you." 

This remarkable effusion was " printed for Giles 
" Calvert," and was " to be sold at the Black Spread 
" Eagle, near the West end of Paul's. 1655." 

The Corporation were reproached for not making an 
effort to keep the peace, and at last they issued the 
following extraordinary order : — 

" July 20, 1556, 

" Order against Intruders in the Church, and to the dis- 
turbers thereof — 

" Whereas it is found by daily and frequent experience, 
" that divers heady and turbulent persons doe wander up 
"and downe, and sometimes intrude into Pulpitts and 
" Publique Meeting places, by law designed and appointed 
" for the due, orderly, and peaceable Publique Preachinge of 
"the Word, and Dispensing of the Ordinances of God, 
" by persons lawfully Authorised, and orderly approved, and 
" allowed thereunto. * 

"And sometimes in a confused, Tumultous manner 
" gather together greate assemblies and concourses of people 
" in open streets and Market places, and other open places 
" of concourse, upon pretence of Preachinge and Publique 
" Teachinge, whereas they have noe lawfull authoritie, 
" approbacion, or allowance to be Publique Preachers or 
u Teachers. 

11 And in trouth theire intent and designe is to vent theire 
11 owne Giddy fancies sometimes in Raylings and Revileings 
u against Ministers, Ministry, and Ordinances of God, pub- 
11 liquely owned and professed in this Nation. 

" And sometimes in Horrid Blasphemies, to the great 
" griefe and trouble of spirite of all that have any love or 
" zeale to the trouth, institutions, and ordinances of Christ, 
" owned and professed as aforesaid. 



148 

"And oftentimes to the occasioninge of open Contradic- 
" tiens, Contests, Debates, Wranglings, and Quarrellings, 
" which sometimes proceed even to Fightings and Affraies, 
" and Tumultous Breaches of the Peace — the proper and 
" natural finity and effects of such kind of irregularities and 
" disorders. 

" The Maior, Jurates, and Commonality now assembled, 
" consideringe the premises for preventing the aforesaid 
" Mischiefs, and the secureing what in them lies the Peace 
" and Quiet of this town in that behaulfe, Doe hereby 
"signify and give notice unto all who may be concerned. 

" That in case any Person or Persons shall intrude into 
" the Publique Meetinge Place, or Parishe Church of this 
" Towne upon any such pretence of Preachinge or Publique 
"Teachinge, not beinge lawfully authorised or approved 
"thereunto, or otherwise not haveinge the consent and 
" allowance of the Publique Minister of the Towne, lawfully 
" or by publique authority invested in the said Publique 
"Place. 

"JThat they will take care that such person and persons 
" soe intrudeinge, shall be proceeded against by Action and 
" Suite at the Common Law, as Intruders and Trespassers, 
" by such theire unlawfull entry into and possessinge them- 
" selves of the said Publique Meetinge Place, or Parish 
" Church. 

" And the care of such Action and Suite is hereby recom- 
" mended to the Maior of this Towne for the time beinge, to 
"be presented in the name of Maior, Jurats, and Com- 
"monality of this Towne (In whom the Freehold and 
" Inheritance of the said Publique Meetinge Place or Parish 
" Church is by Special Charter and Graunt thereof to them 
" and to theire successors) ; Or in the name of the 
" Chamberlyn or Chamberlyns of the said Towne for the 
" time being ; Or in the name of such other person or 
" persons, as to the said Maior for the time beinge by 
" Counsell learned in the Law shall be advised. 



149 



" And it is further Ordered that this Order and Constitu- 
H tion shall from henceforth immediately be of force, and 
" not except any farther meetinge at another Burghmote, 
"any former order or constitution in such behalfe, to be 
" contrary notwithstandinge. 

" And further the said Maior, Jurats, and Comonalitie doe 
" recommend it to the Care and Diligence of the Justices of 
" the Peace of this Towne and Parish, to use all lawf ull 
" meanes for the timely preventinge and redressinge of the 
"aforesaid Confusions and Disorders in the aforesaid 
" beginings of them, which have such a natural and direct 
" tendency to the aforesaid Disturbances of the Publique 
'■ peace, by a timely proceeding and dealinge accordinge to 
" Law with the aforesaid Authors and Ringleaders of them, 
11 whether in the said Publique Meeting Place, or other 
" Publique Open Place in the Street, or elsewhere within the 
"said Towne." 

An arrangement seems to have been made 
by which Crompe was to be assisted, if 
occasion required, by Robert Ellis, Minister of 
Burham, John klmstone, of Maidstone, John Davis, 
who had been appointed Rector of Otham in 
1657, and Repent Nichols, who describes himself as 
" Preacher of the Word at East Farleigh," which 
same Repent Nichols managed about this time to 
intrude himself into the vicarage of Linton, and, if 
Hasted is to be credited, Nichols also took possession 
of the living of B arming. 

The last Church orders issued by the Mayor and 
Jurats during the Great Rebellion relate to the pur- 
chase of a Bible which the Chamberlain was ordered, 
in June, 1658, to buy for the " use of the Corpora- 



150 

tion." It was described as " a Great Bible, newly 
44 printed in the Eastern Languages." A " Lexicon 
14 of the said Languages " was also to be procured, 
and the Recorder was to assist the Chamberlain in 
providing them. 

The Bible having been procured, it was ordered, 
on the 20th of October, that it should " be disposed 
44 of for publique use of such Ministers and others as 
44 shall have recourse to the same for their reading 
" and studies," and to be placed until u further notice 
44 in the Vestry Room of the Parish Church of this 
" Town, in some convenient press with shelves, and 
" chayned in a convenient manner." 

Two keys of the Press were to be made, one for 
the Minister, and the other was to be left with the 
Mayor. 

Crompe remained at All Saints' Church until the 
Restoration, when the Sequestrators were relieved 
of their charge, and the parish came again 
under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Arch- 
bishop. The last time Crompe officiated at All 
Saints' Church was at a marriage, on the fourth of 
April, 1659, a very short time after which he 
quietly retired into private life ; but being 
"wanted" at the Maidstone Sessions, in 1662, he 
was returned by the Court as "Non est inventus." 
He, however, was not molested, and died here in 
February, 1674. These facts are borne out by the 
Muniments of the Corporation of Maidstone, now 
preserved in their Record Room. It is necessary to 



151 

be particular over these dates, as Crompe has been 
repeatedly mentioned as having been ejected for 
nonconformity on St. Bartholomew's Day, August 
the twenty-fourth, 1662. 

The Rev. John Davis, who had been appointed by 
the Archbishop to supersede Crompe, signs the 
Parish Registers early in the year 1661, and the same 
year enters the death of Mrs. Davis in the following 
way :— 

" 1661. August 21st. Elinor, wife ot Mr. John Davis, 
" Minister." 

Thus contradicting the idea of Crompe' s being in 
possession of the incumbency of the Church in the 
year 1662, and we think that his name, with many 
others, might safely be withdrawn from the " Two 
Thousand" who are supposed to have been ejected 
at the passing of the "Act of Uniformity. ; ' New- 
ton's account of Crompe is very absurd ; he says — 
li that after his ejectment in 1662, for nonconformity, 
u the Minister of Boxley admitted him into his 
" pulpit, and he preached often for him for the space 
u of two years." Palmer, in his "Nonconformists 
Memorial," makes the same assertion. 

Crompe was possessed of a good property, and 
had married in 1654, Ann, the daughter of Henry 
Haule, Esquire, of the parish of Thurnham, by 
which he became a still richer man. In 1667, 
Crompe suffered a great misfortune in the loss of his 
son William, who died in May of that year. Crompe 
died on the 15th of July, 1667, during the fearful 



152 

visitation of the plague in the town, but not of that 
disease. At the time of his death he was forty-seven 
years of age. In 1649, he was complimented with 
the freedom of the borough, and the entry relating 
to him is — 

" Sept. 20, 1649. 

"John Crompe, clerke, eldest sorme of Mr. Thomas 
" Crompe, one of the Jurates of this Town, lately deceased, 
" made free gratis and took his oath." 

Two years after Crompe' s death, a person of the 
name of Gearing published and dedicated to Sir 
John Banks, Bart., of Aylesford, a Tract, entitled, 
" The Parable of-the Great Supper Opened," being 
the substance, according to Gearing, of ; ' Seventeen 
" Sermons preached on various occasions by Crompe ' ' 

Mr. Repent Nichols, who had assisted Crompe at 
the Parish Church, with the Restoration found his 
occupation gone. The livings of Linton and East Far- 
leigh, which he had usurped, were of course filled with 
competent men ; the vicarage of Linton being con- 
ferred on the Rev. Phineas Cosby in the month of 
September, 1660, and thus Mr Repent Nichols was 
thrown on his own resources for a livelihood, 
nearly two years before St. Bartholomew's Day. In 
this dilemma he thought of opening a shop in Maid- 
stone, but before he could do this, he must obtain the 
freedom of the town, or else submit to any fine the 
Corporation might chose to exact, and not only so, 
but he must also abjure the Covenant which he had 
taken in Cromwell's time. 

In January, 1663, he made application to the 
Council for his freedom. The Corporation demanded 



153 



the sum of Five Pounds. Nichols refused, and 
forthwith opened his shop in Gabriel's Hill. The 
Corporation, not wishing to push matters to ex- 
tremes, ordered him to pay one shilling per week, 
so lon£ as he continued trading in Maidstone. This 
continued until April the 1st, 1665, when he was 
allowed to pay a reduced fine of Three Pounds. The 
money was paid, and Mr. Repent Nichols took the 
Oath of Allegiance to King Charles, and then main- 
tained that — 

"1, Repent Nichols, do declare that I hold there lyes 
"no obligation upon me, or any other person, from the 
" Oath commonly called the Solemn League and Covenant, 
,{ and that the same was in itself an unlawful oath, and 
" imposed upon the subjects of this realm against the known 
" laws and liberties of the kingdom." 

Mr. Repent Nichols having thus expressed him- 
self, was thereupon declared a freeman of the King's 
Town of Maidstone, and entitled to all the privileges 
as such. 

The business seems to have prospered with 
Nichols, and he remained in the house on Gabriel's 
Hill until his death, which happened on the 27th of 
February, 1674. He was then described as an aged 
man. His first wife died in Maidstone in December, 
1657. He married again in January, 1663, Mary 
Hyde, of this town, and his widow, still occupying 
the house on Gabriel's Hill, survived until February, 
1679. 

We have been thus particular in giving the history 
of Mr. Repent Nichols, because he — like John 



• 154 

Crompe and Whiston, has been placed amongst those 
who were ejected from livings in 1662 for Noncon- 
formity, Crompe retired on the Restoration, 
Whiston left Maidstone voluntarily at the same 
time. The vicarage of Linton was conferred 
on the Rev. P. Cosby, by Archbishop Juxton, in 
the month of September 1660, and yet we are told 
by Calamy that Mchols was ejected by the Bartholo- 
mew Act, in 1662, from the living of Linton. From 
Loose, adjacent to Maidstone, Calamy tells us that 
Lock was ejected in 1662, but here we find that 
the Archbishop, in 1661, had taken this living of 
Loose into consideration, and had augmented the 
salary of the then incumbent, the Rev. Henry Walter. 
If these instances can be found in Maidstone and 
its immediate neighbourhood, it is but reasonable to 
assume that errors of the like kind may be discovered 
in other localities. We should advise those who take 
an interest in this subject to consult those interesting 
records, the Parochial Registers, where they will 
frequently find incumbents mentioning the exact 
day on which they were inducted, and these incidents 
are often corroborated by similar entries in the 
Bishops' Registers. 




CHAPTER XV. 

1661 to 1711. 
The Rev. John Davis ; Church Inventory in 1667 ; A Gallery 
built ; The Rev. H. Lynde ; The Rev. Edward Roman ; The Rev. 
Gilbert Innes ; Alterations in the Church ; Sir Jacob Astley ; 
Innes' Letters ; Dispute respecting the Clerk and Sexton ; Indus- 
try of Innes ; His Death. 



Crompe as we have seen was succeeded early in 
1661 by John Davis, also Rector of Otham. A 
better choice could not have been made, and it 
seems possible that Davis was preferred by the 
Archbishop to a stranger, from his knowledge of 
the inhabitants of Maidstone. The Prayer Book 
was again used in All Saint's Church, to the great 
delight of the congregation which now mustered in 
large numbers. Divine Service was celebrated ; as 
in Wilson's and Crompe's time, "at the west end of 
the nave. The earliest order of Burghmote after the 
Restoration is as follows : — 
"April 23rd, 1663. 

" Ordered that the Jurats should attend the Maior from 
" their houses to the Church to have Divine Service and 
" Sermon every Sunday Morning and Afternoon, in their 
"Gowns." 

Aud unless excused by the Mayor for the time 
being, were to be fined one shilling for each absence, 
and every Sunday for several years after T663 the 
Mayor and Jurats invariably walked to the Church 
according to this arrangement, 



256 

An Inventory of the Church, goods was taken by 
the Churchwardens, in the year 1667, and is as 
follows : — 

li A perticular of Bells, Plate, Lynnen, and other Uten- 
sils belong to ye Church of All Saints, in Maydstone, in 
" 1667." 

ROBERT CALLANT, "\ 

THOMAS GRAVETT, f ™ , , 

WALTER EYLES. ^Churchwardens. 

RICHARD WICKINGS, J 
u 6 Bells with Ropes well hanged in steeple, 
u 1 Large Clock and waights their, 
" 5 Books on Desks below ye ffont, 
" 1 Velvet cushin pnrple for ye pulpit, 
" 1 Large purple Cloth, with Silk and Gold fringed 
(pulpit), 
" 1 Desk purple Cloth with Silk and Gold fringe, 
" 1 Large Church Bible of ye new Translation, 
" 1 Service Book and small Prayer books for spetiall 



" 1 Greater "Velvet Cushin in Mr. Maior's pew, 
" 1 Comunion Table : wyt a larpe purple Carpet of Silk 
and Gold fringed, 
" 1 Damask table Cloth and two Napkins, 
" 1 Table Cloth Fflagon fringed at ends (in vestry chist)^ 
" 1 Large Silver Fflagon : Sir John Ashly's guift, 
" 2 Large Silk on Challises, 
u 2 Silver covers to them, 
" 1 Large pewter Flagon, 
l - 2 Small pewter Dishes, 
*• 2 Small pewter plates, 
" 1 Lesser pewter Fflagon, 
" 4 White earthen Bowles, 
" 1 Table thier, 

" 1 Large wooden Coffer, Iron bownd, 3 lorks,. 
u 1 Other old Chist with 2 lorks, 



157 

" 1 Iron to hold an how'rd glasse, 

M 1 Large Clask Trunke to hold Carpets and Vestures, 

" 2 Surplus and one black hood for ye Minister, 

" 1 Old Church Bible, 

" 6 Bookes of old and new Testament ; from ye Oxidnt 
all Languages, 

" 5 Wooden dishes to gather money in, a Stand, 

"9 Formes. 

The Church Kate of this year was doubled, to 
furnish sufficient money fcr the repairs of the Church 
and also for the " building of a Gallery therm," for 
the painting of which Gallery a Mr. Tapley was 
paid the sum of eleven pounds. On an alteration 
being made in this Gallery, or as it was afterwards 
called, a Scalding," it was ordered to be done with 
split deal and to be ' ; coloured." 

Davis was twice married, his first wife died in 
August. 1661. He married secondly, Catherine- 
Dixon, of Maidstone, who^survived him. 

Davies died in July, 1667, and was succeeded by 
the Rev. Humphrey Lynde, who was also Vicar of 
the adjoining parish of Boxley. The Small Tithes 
of the parish of Maidstone were granted to Lynde 
and his successors by Archbishop Sancroft, in the 
year 1677. During the incumbency of Lynde the 
Town was in a very divided state owing to the poli- 
tical contentions arising during the latter part of 
the reign of James the Second. The town charters 
were surrendered, and the election of a Mayor and 
Corporation for party purposes caused some bitter 
feeling. Lynde however kept clear of all these 



158 

doings with one exception, when an endeavour was 
made to elect a party Churchwarden which at the 
time troubled the authorities, and they were sum- 
moned to attend before the Privy Council, but not 
before a Vestry Meeting had decided that the 
expenses of this proceeding should be defrayed out 
of the parish money by the Churchwardens and 
Overseers. The matter was however allowed to 
drop. In the year 1689, Mrs. Elizabeth Lynde, the 
wife of the Curate died, and Mr. Lynde did not 
long survive her, as he also died in September of 
the following year, 1690. During Lynde's incum- 
bency the present communion rails were erected in 
the Church. 

Lynde was succeeded by the Rev. Edward Roman 
of whom we have very little information in conse- 
quence of his occupying this position but a short 
time. He died in 1692, two years after his appoint- 
ment. On Roman's decease, and before his successor 
was inducted, the parishioners held a vesty meeting 
and resolved that a new Pulpit and " Sounding 
board" should be erected, together with some 
alterations at the Communion Table, and " a new 
pue to be erected for ye churchwardens," and 
ordered to be placed a where it shall seem most 
convenient." 

The Rev. Gilbert Innes, the next Curate, had 
been previously Vicar of Chislet, and subsequently 
Vicar of St. John, Thanet, where he was so popular 
that the inhabitants subscribed the sum of forty 



159 

pounds per annum for him as an addition to the 
Vicarial Tithes. Innes was presented to the Curacy 
of Maidstone by Archbishop Tillotson, in 1692, and 
brought with him the best wishes of his former 
parishioners, who prized him greatly for his earnest- 
ness and zeal as a clergyman. On his residing at 
Maidstone he found that the Hamlet of Loddington, 
situated in a remote part of the parish, adjoining 
Linton, had refused to pay the Small Tithes which 
were due to the Curate of Maidstone. This matter 
had been in dispute some years, and Innes in order 
to determine the matter, obtained a Decree in the 
Court of Exchequer, in the year 1707, which con- 
firmed the Curate's right to these Small Tithes. 

In the year 1695, Innes endeavoured to ascertain 
the exact population of Maidstone, he accordingly 
prepared a series of tables, entered into these 
particulars, such as the age and sex of each 
inhabitant. From his Statistics it would seem that 
the inhabitants then numbered 3,676, the burials 
annually, on an average of ten years previously, 
were 147. 

The arrangement of the Church Pews had under- 
gone many changes during the previous incum- 
bencies. In the year 1699, it was resolved " that a 
u new pew shall be erected and built at ye South 
" Pillar against ye ffbnt, for ye Churchwardens and 
" Overseers to sett inn, in the roome of ye two 
" lowest pews." Many patchings and alterations had 
been made, and as is generally the case, with very 



160 

unsatisfactory results. At length, in order to arrange 
the Church with some like uniformity, a vestry 
meeting, convened on the thirteeth day of May, 
] 700, unanimously resolved that the Church be re- 
pewed, the expense to be borne by a rate specially 
made for that purpose, and that the Mayor for the 
time being, Mr. George Pound and Mr. Robert 
Salmon, should advise and assist the Churchwardens 
in the management thereof. This work was scarcely 
begun when all sorts of disputes arose with the joiners 
employed in making these alterations, namely, John 
Hooly and Richard Barker, the altercation and dis- 
order continued for sometime, when it seems the works 
were stopped by a kind of strike among the contrac- 
tors. At this crisis Innes, assisted by Mr. William 
Post, Mr. Edward Dennis, Mr. Zachary Colinson, 
and Mr. Samuel Whittle, took the work in hand 
and determined to carry it on, to the con- 
sternation of the contractors, who threatened to 
commence an action against them for breach of 
contract. The parishioners, however, supported 
Innes and his assistants, and at a vestry meeting, 
held on the eleventh of July, 1701, it was resolved 
"" That if the Joiner who had contracted for the 
" work do at any time bring an action against the 
*' above parties, for new pewing the Church, that the 
u Churchwardens shall defend the same at the cost 
'*' of the Parish, and that any money due to the said 
** joiners, Messrs. Hooly and Barker, be tendered to 
" them according to their Articles of Agreement." 



161 

It happened that the joiners were not the only im- 
pediments in the way of the re-pewing of the Church, 
as one of the principal inhabitants was also exceed- 
ingly difficult to please. This was Sir Jacob Astley, 
the then owner of the Palace. Sir Jacob Astley 
held, with the Palace, by a special grant from the 
Archbishop, some pews situated in a conspicuous 
part of the Church, and in the matter of the re- 
pewing seems to have given a considerable amount 
of trouble, although Innes did everything in his power 
to propitiate the Baronet. Some letters written by 
Innes to Sir Jacob, between July and December, 
1700, have been preserved, and, at the fourth annual 
meeting of the Kent Archaeological Society, in 1861, 
were thus descanted on by Mr. Beresford-Hope : — 
" In his first letter he informs Sir Jacob that 
" your seats shall be built at the public charge as 
the others are, if you please. The reason is because 
the parish is willing to leave it to the gentry to do 
something of themselves towards the beautifying of 
the Church as they shall think fit." He goes on to 
say that Sir Jacob is believed to have " more room 
in the Church than any gentleman or nobleman hath 
in such a town as this," and delicately reminds the 
worthy baronet that the Church possessed one 
" noble monument " of his predecessors respect for 
it in the shape of " a large silver flagon for the Com- 
munion, which holds a gallon." In the same letter 
the rev. gentleman informs Sir Jacob that the new 
pews will be somewhat differently arranged, " because 



132 

the labouring men and waggoners standing in the 
space where you and Sir Eobert entered, and mv 
Lady Taylor's and the other gentry's seats was offen- 
sive to them." Sir Jacob seems to have been fearful 
lest he should be deprived of an inch of the ample 
space apportioned to him, and several letters from 
Mr. Innes contain minute details as to the position 
and size of his pew, the rev. gentleman assurring Sir 
Jacob of his devotion to his interests, and that he 
will not lose anything by the alteration. The Norfolk 
squire is also informed that his pew shall be in no 
wife inferior to that of Sir Robert Marsham, and if 
the latter has carved work the rev. gentleman will 
take care to inform him. However, Sir Jacob seems 
to have been hard to please, for on October 12th Mr. 
Innes begins his letter — " Right Worshipful, — I am 
no less weary than you are about the seats. This 
business hath given both you and me the trouble of 
many letters, and I have had many hard words about 
them." He concludes his letter by requesting Sir 
Jacob, if he has anything more to say about the 
pews, to write a Mr, Pierce, observing, ' fc I have 
bustled enough, res est ad hue Integra, and I desire 
to be excused from meddling any more." However, 
the rev. gentleman does write again on the 21st of 
October, giving some particulars about the seats, and 
informing Sir Jacob that both his and Sir Robert 
Marsham' s pews will " stand a foot above the rest of 
the seats on that side, and will look very noble." At 
the same times Mr. Innes expresses a hope that Sir 



163 

Jacob will leave the materials of his old seats to the 
churchwardens "to be employed with the other old 
seats for building a range of seats under the gallery, 
as it is intended for the ordinary sort of people." 
But perhaps the most curious ot the whole series 
of letters is the last, in which the rev. gentleman 
writes — u Right Worshipful — Your seats are fur- 
nished and the locks put on and the keys — one I 
delivered to Mr. Kingsley, another to my Lady 
Faunce, a third I have ; the rest for the servants' 
seats Mr. French hath. I ordered my wife to take 
possession of your seat as your tenant and in your 
right. My Lady Faunce was angry at this, thinking 
it a disparagement to her that the parson's wife 
should sit with her, and told my wife that some did 
take notice of it that the parson's wife should sit 
above ail the ladies." After stating that he directed 
his wife to sit there simply to assert Sir Jacob's 
right, the rev. gentleman proceeds — " The truth is 
my Lady Faunce is very uneasy. She pretends that 
you gave her leave to sit in your seat, and takes it 
ill that Captain Kingsley and his lady should sit in 
it, and brings in all her friends, every strange people 
that came from London to see her. On the other 
hand, Captain Kingsley takes it ill that my Lady 
should do this, he dwelling in your house; and Mrs. 
Kingsley takes it ill that my Lady's youngest 
daughter should take place of her in the seat because 
she is an Esq'rs eldest daughter, and the Captain is 
an Esquire by his offiee, and mighty animosities 



164 

there are between them upon this account. I told 
my Lady that if my wife should sit there none could 
be justly offended, for Mrs. French sits as high as 
my wife. My Lady Marsham's woman sits in her 
seat when she is not at Church, and my Lady Taylor's 
woman sometimes sits with her, and my wife nor I never 
were to be servants to any. I speak not this from ambi- 
tion — what I have done in this matter is to serve 
you." The rev. gentleman then asks for instructions 
how to proceed, at the same time observing — " I will 
not presume to dictate to you who know better than 
I what is fit to be done. There is no gentleman in 
England who should live in your house would be 
more tender of your rights to preserve them than I 
am, or would pay your rent better. You may have 
it when it is due, or before if you have any occasion 
for it." 

At length everything connected with the re-pewing 
was arranged, and the Church again opened for 
Divine Service. In considering this question of 
Innes re-pewing the Church, we must bear in mind 
the hideous appearance which it presented before 
the alteration. The ancient seats had disappeared, 
and pews erected in every conceivable fashion, shape, 
and colour — some of deal, some of oak and other 
woods. The gallery, erected in 1681, had been 
made, as we have seen, of split deal, and painted. 
A new pulpit had been manufactured in 1692 by 
Edward Wyden, at a cost of thirty pounds, and he 
had also at the same time erected an altar-piece, for 



165 

the sum of twelve pounds five shillings, so that the 
Church altogether presented a most incongruous 
appearance. Innes' alterations had at least this 
merit — that they presented a regularity of design 
and substantial look which the Church had not pos- 
sessed for a century previously. 

In the year 1707, Robert Webb was elected 
Sexton by the parish, which, with a previously dis- 
puted election of Parish Clerk, seems to have again 
raised the point as to whom the election of these 
officials was legally vested in. An arrangement was 
entered into between Innes and the parishioners, 
subject to the approval of the Commissary-General, 
Dr. Wood, which settled this matter, judgment 
being given in this form : — 

April, 1708. " Upon hearing the matter in difference be- 
" tween Mr. Innes, Clerk, curate of the Parish Church of 
" Maidstone on the one part, and Mr. Whatland, Mr. Swin- 
" nocks, Mr. Wall, and Mr. Taylor on the other part, pa- 
" rishioners of Maidstone aforesaid, on behalf of themselves 
" and others of the said parish, touching the right of 
" election of the Parish Clerk and Sexton, 

" It was owned by the said parishioners that the right 
" and custom to chose the said Parish Clerk was and is in 
u the Curate of the said parish. 

" It was likewise owned by Mr. Innes that the right and 
" custom to chose a Sexton for the said parish was and is in 
" the parishioners there for the time being. 

" But it not clearly appearing to the Court what wages, 
iS stipend, or salary were respectively due to the said Clerk 
u and Sexton, the Judge did order that public notice should 
'•'be given in the Church of Maidstone on Sunday next, 
" after Divine Service, for the Curate and parishioners to 



166 

" meet some day in the week following, and to consider 
" what Wages or Dues to be paid respectively to the Clerk 
"and Sexton for the future, to which the Curate and 
•" parishioners readily and willingly consent to do." 

Pursuant to this order a Yes try Meeting was held 
on the 20th of April, 1708, and it was agreed that 
the Sexton was to be paid the sum of six pounds 
per annum, from the rate, for his services, which 
included, amongst other duties, that of looking after 
the Clock and Chimes, and also ringing the " Corfew 
Bell," as had been customary in former times. 

Shortly after this the Sexton was threatened with 
an action-at-law for performing the services required 
of him in his vocation, and the consequence was 
another Yestry Meeting, which resolved that " in 
" case any difference arise, or any suit be com- 
" menced against the Sexton by reason of the orders 
" of Yestry, that the Churchwardens shall pay all 
* ; costs and charges of the same out of the Church 
4C rate." 

The Clerk's salary, however, was suffered to get 
into arrear until the year 1711, when another Yestry 
Meeting was held to consider the matter. It was 
then stated that the Clerk had not been paid for 
three years, so it was agreed that the Clerk should 
be paid six pounds, together with an additional four 
pounds for attending the Church Services. In case, 
however, both offices of Clerk and Sexton should be 
hereafter united, the extra four pounds should not 
he paid; and thus ended the great controversy 
which had arisen during Barrell's incumbency. 



167 

Innes kept a very exact account of all his pa- 
rishioners, and in the course of his enquiries found 
that some had been baptized by the Presbyterian 
Ministers of Maidstone, Messrs. Perrot and Durrant. 
From the year 1692 to 1707 the total number was 
but twenty-two — a small proportion compared to 
the one thousand nine hundred and ninety baptised 
in All Saints' Church in the same period, but it was 
quite enough to concern Innes, who used every 
effort to unite these people with the Church congre- 
gation. A list, written by Innes, of these twenty- 
two baptisms is still preserved, but does not contain 
a single name now known in connection with the 
history of Maidstone. Four of them were members 
of one family, four of another household, and one 
came from the parish of St. Martin's Outwich, 
London. 

Innes was a model of a working clergyman, 
His personal example effected a great improve- 
ment in Maidstone, and great were the lamen- 
tations at his death, which happened on the 5th 
of May, 1711, having been incumbent of Maid- 
stone nineteen years, during which time he had 
gained the esteem and respect of all his parishioners. 




CHAPTER XVI. 

1711 to 1747. 

The Rev. Dr. Woodward ; Establishment of the Blue Schools ; 

The Rev. Samuel Weller ; A fire in the Church ; The Parish 

Library ; List of Subscribers ; Destruction of the Spire ; 

Erection of the Organ ; George Launders. 



Innes was succeeded as incumbent of Maidstone 
by the Rev. Josiah Woodward, D.D., in the year 
1711. He had previously been minister of Poplar, 
near London, and had so much distinguished him- 
self as to attract the favourable notice of Archbishop 
Tenison. In the year 1696, a society was established 
bearing the curious name of " The Society for Re- 
formation of Manners in the City of London," and 
Dr. Woodward was selected to preach the first 
sermon on behalf of the new association. This he 
did in the month of December, 1696, and the 
sermon was printed, and obtained such a large sale, 
that a second edition was issued in 1696. It bore 
the title of "The Duty of Compassion to the Souls 
of others in endeavouring their Reformation." Dr. 
Woodward also printed several other sermons, the 
chief which seems to have been a volume of sermons 
preached as Boyle's Lectures. They are entitled 
" The Divine Origin and Incomparable Excellency 
of the Christian Religion." Educational matters 
seems to have engaged a considerable part of Dr. 
Woodward's time, and to his zeal and energy we 



169 

owe the foundation and establishment of the Maid- 
stone Blue Coat Schools. Divine services were held 
by Dr. Woodward in the Church once a month, on 
the Friday evenings before the administration of the 
Lord's Supper. On the ensuing Sunday Dr. Wood- 
ward preached the sermons, and the collections after 
these discourses were applied to the uses of the Blue 
Schools. Unfortunately 'for Maidstone, Dr. Wood- 
ward died on the 6th of August, 1712, the year after 
his appointment to the incumbency. His last pub- 
lication was " The Divine Origin of Civil Govern- 
ment;" A sermon preached at the Parish Churcn 
<: of Maidstone, in Kent, at the election of Mayor for 
" that Corporation, November the 2nd, 1711. Pub- 
" lished at the request of the Mayor, Jurates, and 
" many gentlemen, and other inhabitants of Maid- 
" stone." 

Dr. Woodward had been assisted in the discharge 
of his sacred calling by the Rev. Samuel Weller, 
L.L.B., Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford, and 
on Dr. Woodward's death was appointed by the 
Archbishop to succeed him as Curate of Maidstone. 
Weller was also rector of Newchurch and Sundridge, 
in this county. 

In the year 1715, a fire, likely to have destroyed 
the Church, took place. Fortunately it was dis- 
covered in time to prevent any great destruction. 
The old roofs had given unmistakeable evidences of 
decay, and every year it was the custom to employ 
men to look for delapidations, and during one of 
these annual searches the fire originated, 
x 



170 

Some years before this time, there had been a 
desire to form a Parish Library, and an Act of 
Parliament passed during the seventh year of the 
reign of Queen Anne, stated that the " provision for 
" the clergy is so mean, that the necessary expence 
u of books for the better prosecution of their studies, 
" cannot be defrayed by them," and as several 
charitable and well-disposed persons had of late 
years erected libraries, provision was made by which 
the Incumbent of the parish was made responsible 
for the safe custody of the books, and in case of any 
being wrongfully detained, an action of Trover 
might be brought, and treble damages, with full costs 
of the suit, recovered. The Archdeacon was also to 
enquire at his Visitation of the state of the library, 
and to amend and redress grievances of the same. 
At the death or removal of an incumbent, the 
churchwardens were to lock up the library, and it 
was not to be opened again until the new Incum- 
bent should be inducted . A book was to be kept to 
register all benefactions, and by whom given. In 
case of any book being lost, a warrant was to be 
issued by a justice to search for the same. 

Encouraged by this Act, the inhabitants of 
Maidstone resolved to fit up the Vestry Eoom 
with shelves and other conveniences, for the recep- 
tion of books. The following then presented books 
to the Library, — Lord Romney, Dr. Primrose, 
Rev. Mr. Milmay, S. Foster, Thomas Hope, Mr. 
Kirby, Mr. Chadwick, John Godden, Dr. Tournay, 
Rev. Dr. Bateman, J. Hamilton, Marriot Pott, 



171 

John Barrington, Joseph Smallvell, W. Hamilton, 
Sir Thomas Colepeppyr, Mr. Duly, Rev. A. Young, 
Rev. John Lewis, Rev. Mr. Craddock, Rev. C. 
Lamb, and Richard Hunter ; these gentlemen pre- 
sented one volume each. C Dubois, Rev. Thomas 
Payne, Thomas Bliss, Mr. Curteis, Rev. W. 
Jacomb, Rev. Peter Innes, (Rector of Kingston) 
each gave two volumes. The Rev. S. Welle r, 
Robert Evernden, (of Harrietsham) and Mr. Savage 
presented three volumes each. R. Meredith, Esq., 
nine volumes. The Honourable J. Finch, eleven 
volumes, and Newton, the historian of Maidstone, 
gave his " Life of Bishop Kennet." 

To this collection was afterwards added a large 
number of books, formerly belonging to the Rev. 
Dr. Bray, incumbent of St. Botolph's, Aldgate, who 
had desired them to be sold for the sum of fifty 
pounds, on condition of their being placed in some 
Corporate Town of the south of England, for the 
use of the parishioners as a parochial library. This 
offer had been eagerly caught at by Mr. Weller and 
his friends, who raised the necessary amount be- 
tween them. 

The following is the list of Subscribers as after- 
wards placed in the Yestry Room. 

"A List of the Subscribers' Names for the Parochial 
Library, in the order wherein they subscribed : — 

£ s. d. 

"Mr. Waterhouse, Rector of Langley... = 2 2 

William Horsrnonden Turner, Esq 3 3 

Mr. Smith, Minister of Chart... 110 



172 

Nicholas Toke, Gent 110 

Mr. Muriell, Minister of Debtling 110 

Mr. Walwyn, Mastr of the Grammar Schole 

of Maidstone 110 

Mr. Jacomb, Minister of Marden ,.. 1 1 

Mr. Allen, Minister of Muston 110 

Sir Philip Boteler. Bart 2 2 

Lord Fairfax 2 2 

Samuel Fullagar, Gent '. 110 

Eobert Lacy, Gent. 110 

Mr. Deodatus Bye, Clerk 110 

Mr. Davis, Minister of West Farley 110 

Sir Walter Roberts, Bart 2 2 

John Greenhill, Gent 110 

Mr. Barrell, Minister of Boxley 2 2 

George Faunce, Esq 110 

Mr. John Fuller, Minister of Yalding 110 

Sir Robert Furnes, Bart 2 2 

Honble. John Finch 6 5 

Mr. Samuel Duke, Surgeon 110 

Mr. Broomfield 110 

Lady Thompson 4 4 

Mr. Somerseales, Minister of Doddington ... 6 6 
Mr. Saml. Weller, in addition to the inciden- 
tal expences in transacting this affair 2 15 

£50 0" 

In the year 1736 a catalogue of all the books in 
this library was taken by Mr. Weller, and printed 
at the expense of the Rev. John Lewis, incumbent 
of Margate, and distributed amongst the inhabitants 
of Maidstone. It is now scarce, but two copies are 
preserved in the Charles Museum. 



173 

In the year 1721 a resolution was made that the 
Church should be re-roofed, and a faculty was 
actually granted by the Commissary General for that 
purpose. This proposition, however, was not then 
carried out, and the old roof was rendered suffi- 
ciently secure for the time by repairs. In the same 
year a new clock was erected in the tower, the 
Chimes repaired, and the Bells re-cast by Phelps, of 
London. 

In the month of November, 1730, a sad calamity 
happened to the Church. This was the destruction 
of the Spire. 

On the night of the 1st of November, a violent 
storm, accompanied with much thunder and light- 
ning, visited this town, and raged with great fury for 
several hours. At two o'clock the next morning the 
inhabitants were roused by the alarm that the 
Church was on fire. It was ascertained that the 
lightning had struck the ball at the top of the Spire, 
which was burning downwards. The Spire, which 
was supposed to be coseval with the rest of the 
Church, was built of oak timbers, bound together 
with supports of the same material and iron. Steps 
were placed in the inside for the convenience of 
repairs. The exterior was covered with lead. As 
the fire raged the molten lead poured down on the 
roof of the south aisle of the nave. This did not 
long bear its fierce burden, and soon gave way. 
The greatest alarm was felt lest the ancient roof of 
the nave, which was exceedingly dry, should ignite* 



174 

Men were placed in directions consistent with their 
safety ; and fortunately, owing to the river being so 
close, a plentiful supply of water was procured, and, 
with the exception of the hole made in the roof of 
the south aisle— through which nearly all the molten 
lead poured down into the Church beneath — the body 
of the Church fortunately sustained but little injury. 
The height of the Spire, from the battlements of the 
tower to the ball, was eighty-two feet six inches, 
from the ball to the top of the vane twelve feet, thus 
making the total height of vane from the ground 
one hundred and seventy-two feet, allowing seventy- 
eight feet for the height of tower. The inhabitants 
exerted themselves most creditably in the successful 
endeavour to save their Church, and an eye-witness 
of the period, who speaks of the narrow escape of 
the remainder of the building, commends them very 
highly for their efforts, 

The old lead was afterwards gathered together, 
sent to London, and sold for the sum of forty- one 
pounds, fifteen shillings, and sixpence. 

The expenses of the Church had in the previous 
years amounted to about sixty-four pounds, pro- 
duced by the usual sixpenny rate ; this year, owing 
to the fire, the sum expended in getting the Church 
again into order, was one hundred and forty -five 
pounds, sixteen shillings, and fivepence three 
farthings. 

The massive old oak beams, and part of the 
framework which supported the Spire, still remain 



175 

under the leads of the tower. Some of the ancient 
timbers saved from the fire were afterwards used in 
reconstructing the supports of the lead flat. They 
are in places much charred, but were found to be 
sufficiently strong for the purpose of repairs. 

A few years after this it was resolved that an 
Organ would be a great improvement to the Services 
of the Church, which had been without an Organ 
since the Great Rebellion. It was suggested that 
an instrument would be of considerable assistance to 
the officiating clergyman, as the duty was for that 
period very heavy. 

There were three full Services, with Sermons, 
on Sundays ; Morning prayer every day in the 
week ; on Saturdays, Holy days, and during 
Lent, Morning and Evening prayer ; on Wednesdays 
and Fridays the children were catechised ; Holy 
Communion was administered on the first Sunday of 
the month and all great Festivals, and Sermons on 
the various State Festivals. 

The proposal for the Organ was warmly 
received, and at a meeting of the Yestry held 
December the twelfth, 1746, it was unani- 
mously agreed to erect an Organ, to be pur- 
chased by voluntary subscription. A committee of 
parishioners were appointed to make and receive 
proposals from Organ builders for erecting the in- 
strument. 

An agreement was entered into with Jordan, the 
Organ builder of London, for an instrument with two 



176 

rows of keys, containing seventeen stops. The 
Organ was in such a forward state, that the Yestrj 
were enabled on the fifth of October, 1747, to elect 
Mr. Georg * Launders as Organist at a salary of 
thirty pounds. For this sum he was to play the 
Organ at the Services on Sundays, and a further sum 
of ten pounds per annum from another source to 
teach the children of the Blue Schools one hour a week 
in psalmody. He was also to enter into an agree- 
ment with the Churchwardens and parishioners to 
reside in Maidstone for seven years, which agree- 
ment he consented to. Launders occupied this 
position until his death, which happened on Satur- 
day, the eighteenth of April, 1795. In 1792 he 
generously expended more than one hundred pounds 
in improving and adding new stops to the Organ. 




CHAPTER XVII, 

The Rev. John Denne ; Corporation Order ; Riot at the Prison ; 
Consequences to Mr. Denne ; The Church Roofs ; The Bells ; The 
Curfew Bell ; The Re-roofing of the Church. 



The Rev. Samuel Weller, who had been incum- 
bent of Maidstone for forty- one years, died in 
January, 1753, and was succeeded by the Rev. 
John Denne, also Rector of Copford, Essex. One 
of the first sermons preached by Denne was before 
the Mayor and Corporation, on the occasion of the 
election of a new Mayor. This discourse was 
afterwards printed. 

An order was passed by the Corporation, in May 
1758, setting forth that it was " found necessary and 
11 expedient for the good order and government of 
" this Town and Parish to sustain and preserve the 
" dignity of the Corporation, and that some of the 
M Jurats and Common Councilmen of this Town and 
" Parish attending the Mayor in their gowns to and 
"from Divine Service, on the Lord's Day, will 
" greatly contribute thereto." It was also ordered 
that the Mayor's salary should be increased to £50 
per annum, "towards defraying the charges of 
" keeping a decent table, and entertaining at Break - 
" fast and Dinner such of the Jurats and Common 



178 

" Oouncilmen of the said Town and Parish as shall 
" from time to time attend and accompany the said 
" Mayor in their gowns to and from Divine Service, 
" and other expenses incident to the office of 
"Mayor." 

For a short time this order was acted upon, but 
it was repealed in August, 1759. The Corporation 
however, continued to attend the Church in State, on 
Sundays, and other special days. 

In the year 1765, a most unfortunate event took 
place in connection with Mr. Denne, who happened 
also to be the Chaplain of the County Goal, then 
situated in King Street. On Wednesday, the 7th of 
August, whilst officiating at the Divine Service in the 
Hall of the prison, which served for the purposes of 
the Chapel, a Riot broke out amongst the prisoners. 
Two desperate Italians, named Pigano, and Bene- 
venuto, then under sentence of death, possessed 
themselves of the firearms and cutlasses, which had 
been most imprudently kept hung up in the Hall 
from the first erection of the Goal, in the year 1746. 
As may be imagined, a fearful struggle took place, 
and in the contest John Stephens, keeper of the 
prison, and John Fletcher, a warder, were killed by 
the Italians. The prisoners then proceeded to make 
themselves masters of the prison. All the lead they 
could find, including the pump, was cut up and 
made into slugs, and thus armed they sallied forth into 
the town, firing on the inhabitants who attempted 



179 

to oppose them. Many volleys were fired on both 
before the prisoners, fifteen in number, escaped 
ha i ing been engaged nearly the whole of the day in 
effecting their liberation ; they then endeavoured to 
make their way to Sevenoaks. As this happened 
before the establishment of the Depot in Maidstone 
the aid of the military could not be immediately 
procured. Soldiers, however, arrived late in the 
evening, and set off in pursuit and overtook them, 
when they retreated to a wood. A regular battle 
took place, and at last the ringleaders Pigano and 
Benevenuto were shot, fighting most desperately to 
the last. The remainder of the prisoners sur- 
rendered, and were afterwards executed. 

The unfortunate Chaplain, Mr. Denne, was most 
unceremoniously treated by the prisoners during 
the affray, and after their escape from the prison, 
Mr. Denne was found under a heap of rubbish, to 
all appearance dead. He however revived, and to 
a certain extent recovered, but the shock to his 
system was so great that he suffered for the re- 
mainder of his life— thirty-five years — from, what 
was then called an intermitting fever of the mind. 
It was found necessary to have an assistant Curate 
to manage the most imfortant duties for him ; 
accordingly the Rev. R. Bassett, and in 1777, the 
Rev. Richard Hodgson were appointed, and for 
some years performed this office. The Rev. James 
Reeve was afterwards selected for this duty in the 
year 1788. 



180 

In the year 1774, the state of the Church roofs 
was again prominently brought, forward. Great 
fears were expressed regarding their safety, and at 
a Vestry Meeting held in May, an endeavour was 
made to do something in the matter. It ended in a 
resolution to ceil the roof of the Nave, from funds 
raised by a Church rate, but this plan could not be 
carried out at the time, and the old roof was again 
repaired. 

The next important event in connection with the 
Church, was the recasting of the Bells. The Church 
had possessed these appendages from the time of its 
completion, and they are mentioned in several ways 
before the Eeformation. In the will of Dr. Lee, 
quoted in a former portion of this work, we find 
him in 1494 leaving sixpence as a payment for 
ringing the fourth Bell at his death, for the space of 
fifteen minutes. We should infer from this that the 
fourth bell was the u great Bell," and in fact that the 
Church possessed only four Bells for ringing pur- 
poses. 

In the reign of Edward the Sixth, 1546, the 
inventory of Church goods states that there were 
" in ye steeple five Bells, and one lyttle Bell called 
ye Morrow-mas-Be]l. ,, 

The " Morrow Mass " Bell, which its name 
fully explains, was not rung in peal, as generally 
they were of a high pitch. Some of these latter bells 
have remained in Kent under the name of Sermon 
Bells. 



181 

After this occasional mention is made of them, 
and the following, being a few of the extracts re- 
lating to the Bells, are taken from the Chamberlain's 
accounts. It has been already stated that the 
Bells were purchased by the Town, at the Reforma- 
tion, of the King's Commissioners. 
1582. — Paid to the Kingers ye vii. day of Novr., 
being the remembrance of the Queen's 

Coronation, to us ..„ 3 4 

1599. — Paid upon the Coronation daie to the 
Ringers in joye of her Majesties longe 

and gracious reigne 3 4 

1623. — Given to the Ringers for wrynging at our 

Prynce's come home 3 4 

1643. — Paid the Ringers at Mr. Maior's election... 3 4 

1660. — Ringers at the King's proclayming 1 

1660. — Ringers at the Coronation of the King... 12 

1660.— Ringers on the 29th of May 10 

1661. — Ringers at the Queen's arrival 10 

1666, June 6th.— To the Ringers when the last 

Duch fight 10 

1666, July, 25th.— To the Ringers when the Duke 

of Monmouth came to town 10 
1666, Aug. 26th.— To the Ringers five shillings 
for a thanksgiving against; 

the Duch 5 

The Church inventory of 1667 also includes the "Six 
Bells with Ropes well hung'din steeple." In 1678 the 
great Bell was recast, and the whole of the bells, six 
in number, were rehung. The work of recasting 
the large bell was committed to Mr. Hodson, who 
received fifty -seven pounds, five shillings, and one 
penny for his trouble. 



182 

Most strange it is to find that Hodson 
was commissioned during the Common-wealth 
to recast the five Bells of the Church of 
Milton- next-Gravesend. Each of these bells has an 
inscription " John Hodson made me, 1656." 

Another recasting of Church Bells during the 
Commonwealth it seems took place at Boxley, when 
the work was executed by one M. Darby, in 1652. 
Recasting Bells at this period was of exceeding 
rare occurence, and any instances which can be 
authenticated deserve to be recorded. 

A Vestry of Maidstone in 1689 directed 
that " the Bells shall be amended as the 
" Churchwardens shall direct." In 1719 we 
find mention of a seventh Bell which had been 
damaged in some part, and was repaired at a cost of 
two pounds. The same year they underwent a 
further repair. These repairs seem to have been 
unsatisfactory, as in 1721 it was resolved that the 
Bells should be recast by Mr. Phelps, of London, 
without any abatement of metal. This work was 
most successfully accomplished, and no repairs are 
again mentioned until the year 1762, when it seems 
that the Tenor Bell was recast by Jannaway, at an 
expense of forty-one pounds. In 1783 theBells were 
again in an unsatisfactory state, a meeting was 
held, and the following committee appointed, 
to whom was delegated the control of every- 
thing relating to this subject. Messrs. RofFe, 
Stunt, Launders, Davis, King, and Cutbush. 



183 

These gentlemen reported in 1784, that after 
many committee meetings, "They had come, 
" to the conclusion that it was desirable to enter into 
" an agreement with Messrs. Chapman and Hears, of 
" Whitechapel, Bell-founders, for casting eight new 
" good and musical Bells, the tenor to weigh thirty 
" cwt., and the rest in progressive proportion, and 
"on D, the whole to weigh about six tons, more or 
11 less, at £6 per cwt., £720 ; eight new clappers, 
"£10 10s. Od. ; hanging, £59 10s. Ocl.; carriage, 
"£16 5s. Od. The founders to take the old Bells, 
" computed at six tons, at £52 0s. Od. ; also to war- 
rant the Bells sound and good for a year, the music 
61 of which is to be left to the judgment of Hr. 
" Launders, the Organist." £246 2s. 6d. was to be 
paid on the first of July, and the remaindar on the 
first of January, 1785. The recommendations of the 
committee were carried out, and when the work was 
accomplished, the Balls were "opened" by the Leeds 
ringers, and a grand performance afterwards took 
place by some ringers from London. 

This year also witnessed the discontinuance of the 
ancient custom of ringing the Curfew Bell, which was 
suppressed by the following order of vestry : — 
" Whereas the ringing of what is commonly termed 
" the Corfew Bell in the winter is useless and an un- 
necessary expense to the parish, it is therefore 
" order'd that the same be discontinued for the 
" future." It was also directed that none but ac- 
knowledged ringers should be allowed to enter the 



184 

belfry, unless with the consent of the Minister and 
Churchwardens, as much damage had frequently oc- 
curred from this cause. 

The state of the roof again attracted attention in 
1785, when repairs were executed amounting to the 
sum of twenty-nine pounds. This sufficed until 
1788, when the roofs presented such a serious state 
of decay, that a minute survey was determined upon, 
and a committee were empowered to report upon it. 

In July the Committee reported that they had 
caused the lead to be taken off from several parts, 
and the girders to be bored in places. They found 
that many of them were in a state of decay, and 
were of opinion that to put the whole roof in good 
repair, so as to last for ages to come, would be at- 
tended with considerable expense, and that it would 
be for the interest of the Parish to take of the whole, 
and put on an entire new roof. 

In January, 1789, the Committee's recommenda- 
tion was agreed to by the Vestry, and the following 
announcement made its appearance : — 

"Maidstone, Jan. 12, 1789. 

" The Committee for putting a new roof on the 
u middle aisle of the Church have agreed upon the 
" following — 

" The roof to be wholly of fir timber, except the 
"plates, which are to be of heart oak. 

" The covering to be of the best Westmoreland 
" slate, and — 



185 

" The ceiling to be flat and plain, with a Doric 
" block, plaistered cornice and flower to encircle the 
" iron of the chandelier. 

" And they do hereby give notice that they shall 
"meet at the Bell Inn, Maidstone, on Wednesday, 
"22nd instant, at four o'clock in the afternoon, to 
" receive proposals for the same — 

*■ And all persons willing to contract are to deliver 
" at the Bar of the said Ian plans of the said roof and 
"ceilings, with separate estimates of the different 
" works, and of the expense of a scaffolding for the 
" same, sealed up. 

" It is expected that the person contracting will 
"give security for the due performance of their con- 
tract. 

"N.B.— The Committee propose to sell the lead, 
"timber, &c, of the old roof by auction, of which 
" timely notice will be given." 

Some disagreements having taken place with the 
Committee respecting the details, they declined act- 
ing under the rules proposed by the vestry. 
Another meeting was held on the 20th February, 
who apponved a fresh Committee. To these gentle- 
men was delegated the new roofing of the nave, In 
July of the same year the vestry resolved that the 
roofs of the north and south aisles should also be 
taken down, and rebuilt according to the four plans then 
laid before the meeting, and that the same be covered 
with copper, as the recommendation of the surveyor, 



186 

to be finished in the most expeditious manner, and 
that the Committee now employed on the roof of the 
nave, with the assistance of the surveyor, superintend 
the future business in the same manner as that already 
began. 

The payment of the Contractors was to be mad 
by a sufficient sum to be borrowed on the security of 
the Minister and Churchwardens for the time being, 
the interest not to exceed five per cent., and by a 
rate of sixpence in the pound. The borrowed money 
was to be discharged at not less than £100 per annum. 

In March, 1790, it was ordered that a new doorway 
should be made to the North entrance, in place of 
that then made use of, the design of which was fur- 
nished by the Surveyor who was then superintend- 
ing the new roofs. An attempt was also made to 
move the Pulpit from the west end of the Church, 
but this was negatived, and the work continued 
without interruption throughout this and the suc- 
ceeding year. 

The old roof was disposed of by public auction. 
The lead was sold for £826 ; apart of the old timber 
was bought for £30; and the remainder of the 
ancient woodwork was sold for the sum of £15 8s. 4d. 

The total cost of re-roofing the Church, with a 
few other payments, amounted to upwards of three 
thousand pounds. 

The last public notice in connection with the re- 
roofing was as follows : — 



187 

44 Maidstone, April, 1794. 
" The Committee for managing the repairs and 
" alterations of the Church being desirous of finally 
"closing their accounts as soon as possible, give 
" notice to all persons having any bills due for work 
** done as above, to send in their respective demands 
" on or before Friday, the 2nd of May next, that the 
" same may be forthwith examined, in order to their 
"being discharged with all convenient expedition." 

In order to pay the remaining accounts, Vestry 
meetings were held on Nov. 12, Nov. 19, Nov. 26, 
Dec. 10, and Dec. 24, but adjourned on each of 
those days for want of a sufficient number to consti- 
tute a Vestry. The arrears, however, were after- 
wards paid from a further sum of £345 borrowed 
for this purpose. 

On Saturday, the 18th of April, 1795, the situa- 
tion of Organist became vacant by the death of Mr. 
Launders, who, from his infirmities, had been unable 
to perform the duties of the office for some years 
previously. The Vestry having decided that only 
those resident in Maidstone should be allowed to 
become candidates, Messrs. Baily and Davis com- 
menced canvassing. On the eighth of May the 
election took place. The candidates were proposed 
by their respective friends, and the close of the poll 
declared a majority of 25 in favour of Davis, who, 
however, died in August, 1797. 

In the year 1800 the Rev. John Denne died, at 



188 

the age of 74, and was succeeded in the incumbency 
by the Rev. James Reeve, who had officiated a* 
Curate for many years previously. 




CHAPTER XVIII, 

1812 to 1854. 
Re-establishment of the Evening Services ; The Church Roofs 
again ; The Archbishop's Chancel ; Death of the Rev. James 
Reeve ; The Restoration of the Church. 



Nothing of importance occurred in connection 
with the Church until the year 1812, when Sunday 
evening services were re-established. 

The subject of the Church roofs was again brought 
under the notice of the parish. A report was made 
under order of vestry, which stated that the copper 
covering being taken off in several places of the side 
aisles, and on examining the timber framing under- 
neath, it was found, with the exception of the roof 
of the south aisle of the Choir, to be in a very dan- 
gerous and decayed state, so rotten that in many 
places the timbers crumbled into dust as soon as the 
copper was taken off. No repairs could be made, 
and new roofs were imperatively demanded. 

The ceilings, with their timbers erected in 1794, 
however, remained perfect. The cause of decay 
was proved to be owing to the want of a proper 
ventilation between the ceilings and the copper roof. 

New roofs were accordingly ordered, and erected 
in 1822, paid for by a shilling rate. At the same 
time the hideous round skylights, which used to light 
the galleries, were taken down. The alterations- 
cost one thousand and ninety- seven pounds. 



190 

During these repairs a discussion arose between 
the Parish and the lessee of the Archbishop's tithes 
respecting the liability of the lessee to keep the 
Chancel in repair. This had been a debateable 
question for more than two centuries, and several 
times legal proceedings had been threatened or com- 
menced, and the matter was not finally set at rest 
until the year 1852, when the opinion of Dr. Travers 
Twiss being obtained, it was agreed between the 
Archbishop of Canterbury and the Vestry that the 
Chancel "shall be deemed to include only the space 
" on the eastern side of the great centre arch at the 
" east end of the Nave, with the three walls, the 
" pillars, arches, windows, buttresses, and appurte- 
" nances, from the foundations to the top of the 
u walls surrounding the same on the east, north, and 
"south, including the roof and all the plastering 
" thereof, the steps and pavements, with the Screens, 
" Stalls, and Rails therein, and the Chancel so defined 
li is repairable, and shall be repaired, by the Arch- 
" bishop of Canterbury, the Impropriator for the 
" time being of the said Rectory, his successors and 
" assigns." 

A proposal was made in 1823 to remove the North 
and South galleries, but this met with such opposition 
that it was negatived, and the South gallery rebuilt. 
The same year the parishioners, thinking that the 
Service conducted at the east end of the Nave would 
be preferable to the custom which had prevailed of 
having it performed at the West end, made applica- 



191 

tion to the Ordinary for permission to erect a tem- 
porary desk and pulpit at the East end, in order that 
they might judge of the effect of the proposed 
alteration ; and the parishioners thinking that the 
change would be advantageous, it was resolved that 
the pulpit and reading-desk should be permanently 
erected at the East end. 

The Rev. James Reeve, who had discharged the 
duties of Incumbent for upwards of fifty years, died 
in March, 1 842, and was buried on the twentieth of 
the same month in All Saints' Church. The shops 
of the town were closed, and the funeral procession 
was preceded i<y the girls and followed by the boys 
of the Blue Coat Schools — a charity which had long 
enjoyed the careful supervision of Mr. Reeve. 

Mr. Reeve was succeeded by the Rev. William 
Yallance, who preached his first sermon on the first 
of May, 1842, the text being taken from Judges in., 
v. 20, "I have a message from God unto thee." The 
time of the Service was now altered to half-past 
ten o'clock, instead of eleven, as fixed at the Restora- 
tion in 1660. 

Preparations were made for a thorough restoration 
of the fabric of the Church. The font was cleansed 
of its blue and yellow paint, and the columns 
cleansed of the whitewash in the years 1842, 1843, 
1844, and 1845. 

The Organ was repaired by Bishop, and opened 
on Sunday, the 28th January, 1844. 

Mr. Saunders, the organist, dying in June, 1845, 



192 

the Vestry decided on electing an organist at the old 
salary of £40 from the Church Rates, which was 
carried after a poll, the numbers being 587 against 
493 ; majority, 94. There were two candidates, and 
after another poll, Mr. Hoadly was elected Organist 
by a majority of 36. In the years 1848 and 1849, 
the Church was restored to nearly its present appear- 
ance. The Tower was repaired, and a faculty was 
procured for the removal of the North and South 
galleries, for repewing the Church, and for relaying 
the floor where necessary, the funds in this case 
being provided by subscription. 

On Friday, the seventh of September, 1849, the 

Church was reopened by Archbishop Sumner, the 

order of procession being as follows : — 

The Architect, 

The Churchwardens, 

Sidesmen, 

The Mayor, 

Chaplain, 

Town Clerk, 

Aldermen and Town Councillors, 

The Clergy of Maidstone, 

The Officiating Clergy of the Parish Church, 

The Archbishop of Canterbury, 

The Chaplain, 

The Archdeacon, 

Dean of Rochester, 

Rural Deans, 

and 

Sixty Clergy of the District. 



193 

In this order the procession entered the Church 
from the West door, and moving up the Nave, took 
the various seats appropriated for them. The Arch- 
bishop preached from Psalm xxvi., v. 8, " Lord, I 
" have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the 
"place where Thine Honour dwelleth." After the 
sermon the Archdeacon read the Communion 
Service, and the sum of £150 was collected at the 
Offertory. 

On the thirtieth of January, 1852, a Yestry resolved 
that " the Organ be removed from the south-west 
"corner of the Church, and replaced over the Yestry, 
" the Rev, William Yallance, the chairman, un- 
" dertaking to exonerate the Parish from all expenses 
" attending the same." The exterior of the Yestry 
was also restored to its original height. 

In the year 1854 the Rev. William Yallance 
removed to Southchurch, Essex, and was succeeded 
in the perpetual curacy of Maidstone by the Rev. 
David Dale Stewart. 



% 



Al 



m 



CHAPTER XIX, 

Incumbents, Churchwardens, Organists, Parish Clerks, and 
Sextons of Maidstone. 



INCUMBENTS OF MAIDSTONE 

As Rectors. 

A.D. 

William de Cornimli 1205 

JohnMansell 1263 

Ralfe de Farnham 1279 

Nicholas de Knowle 1287 

Stephen Haselingefelde 1310 

Hugh Polegnini 1366 

Robert Sibthorpe 1381 

William de Tyrington 1394 

Guide deMone 1396 

As Masters or Wardens or the College. 

JohnWooton 1398 

JohnHolond 1418 

Roger Heron 1419 

WiUiam Duffield 1430 

JohnDarrell 1441 

Peter Stackley 1444 

Robert Smythe 1450 

Thomas Bullyn , 1458 

John Freestone 1470 



195 

John Lee ,1470 

John Comberton 1494 

William GrocyU? 1506 

Thomas .Penyton 1519 

JohnLeffe 1530 

As [Curates to the Archbishop. 

Sir John Porter 1 1540 

Sir Thomas Pyne ; 1540 

Ralph Pearshall ^1549 

Richard Auger 1551 

John Day 1553 

Thomas Tymme 1571 

Richard Storer 1573 

Robert Carr ..., 1582 

RobertBarrell 1618 

Samuel Smiths 1643 

Thomas Wilson 1644 

John Crompe 1653 

John Davis 1661 

Humphrey Lyncle 1677 

As Perpetual Curates. 

Edward Roman 1690 

Gilbert Innes 1692 

Josiah Woodward 1711 

Samuel Weller 1712 

John Denne 1753 

James Reeve 1800 

William Vallance. .. , 1842 

David Dale Stewart 1854 



196 



CHURCHWARDENS OF MAIDSTONE. 

The number of Churchwardens of Maidstone has 
been very unsettled until within a very recent period. 
Sidesmen were not in vogue in Maidstone until about 
the year 1700. 



1542. 
Richard Basse 
George Pynde 
Henry Faunt 

1543. 
Richard Basse 
Thomas Brooke 
George Pynde 

1544. 
John West 
James Barrett 

1546. 
Robert Balsar 
James Barrett 
Robert Hylles 

1547. 
Robert Balsar 
Thomas Benet 
George Pynde 

1548. 
Robert Balsar 
Nicholas Asten 
Richard Nelson 
John Goseling 



1549. 

Robert Balsar 

1563. 
James Franklyn 
John Startupp 

1570. 
Abraham Hooper 
Henry Cooper 

1598. 
William Basedon 
William Emiot 
Thomas Barham 
William Henman 

1599. 
William Henman 
William Emyott 
William Lorrimer 
Robert Marshall 

1600. 
John Potlyn 
George Nashe 

1603. 
Richard Milles 
William Videon 



197 



1605. 
John Brooke 
Henry Maple sden 
William Freeman 
Henry Gardener 

1608. 
George Gillyat 
Thomas Chambers 

1609. 
George Gillyat 
William Darby 
Thomas Chambers 

1610. 
George Gillyat 
William Darby 
Samuel Marshall 
Robert Godden 

1611, 
Samuel Marshall 
Robert Godden 
Richard May 
Robert Wood 

1612, 
Richard May 
Robert Wood 

1635. 
Francis Lambe 
John Cripps 



1636. 
Francis Lambe 
John Cripps 

1637. 
William Stanley 
James Davey 

1638, 
William Stanley 
James Davey 

1639. 
George Tomlyn 
Arthur Harris 

1640. 
Robert Gammon 

1641. 
Robert Usburne 
Thomas Walter 

1660. 
John Peirce 
George Taylor 

1661. 
Daniel Bockman 
Peter Harrison 

1662. 
Thomas Pett 
John Tong 

1663. 
John Cripps 
Richard Walker 



198 



1664. 
George Walker 
Thomas Venman 

1665. 
Samuel Wood 
Stephen Weekes 

1666. 
Robert G-oare 
William Wildish 

1667. 
Robert Callant 
Thomas Gravett 

1668. 
Walter Eyles 
Richard Wicking 

1669. 
John Callant 
William Russell 

1670. 
Augustine Hall 
Richard Hills 

1671. 
Francis Ongley 
Thomas Curteis 

1672. 
John Troughton 
Arthur Hunt 

1673. 
George Pierce 
Robert Salmon 



1674. 
Thomas. Bliss. 
Robert Pangbourne 

1675. 
William Clarke 
John Kitchenham 
Robert Brooke 
Richard Wattle 

1676. 
Robert Brooke 
Richard Wattle 
Richard Mussery 
James Godden 

1677. 
Richard Mussery 
James Godden 
William Finch 
Jeremiah Smith 

1678. 
William Finch 
Jeremiah Smith 
Robert Churchill 
Walter Harris 

1679. 
Robert Churchill 
Walter Harris 
Alexander Usburne 
John Cary. 



199 



1680. 
Alexander Usburne 
John Cary 
George Webb 
John Newington 

1681. 
George Webbe 
John Newington 
Thomas Marshall 
Thomas Hope 
1682. 
Thomas Marshall 
Thomas Hope 
William Post 
Robert Plover 
1683. 
William Post 
Richard Heeley 
George Hodge 
John Presmill 
1684. 
Edward Loder 
John Presmill 
John How 
Richard Dennis 

1685. 
John How 
Richard Dennis 
Mathew Chandler 
John Rogers 



1686. 
Mathew Chandler 
John Rogers 
James Reader 
Geerge Manley 

1687. 
James Reader 
George Manley 
Henry Robbin 
William Weaver 

1688. 
Henry Robin 
William Weaver 
Walter Weekes 
Roger Comber 

1689. 
Walter Weekes 
Roger Comber 
Robert Swinock 
John Beirnfull 

1690. 
Robert Swinock 
John Beirnfull 
Thomas Whatland 
John Wicking 
1691. 
Thomas Whatland 
John Wicking 
Robert Dason 
Daniel Whatland 



200 



1692. 
Robert Dason 
Daniel Whatland 
Robert Bishopp 
Stephen Weekes 

1693. 
Robert Bishop 
Stephen Weekes 
Alexander Usburne 

1700. 
William Post 
Edward Dennis 
Samuel Witterell 
Zachary Collinson 

1701. 
Samuel Witterell 
Zachary Collinson 

1702. 
John Sabb 
William Barrett 

1705. 
Samuel Marshall 
George Curtis 

1706. 
Samuel Marshall 
George Curtis 
Morgan Hall 
John Tomlyns 



1707. 
Morgan Hall 
John Tomlyns 
Thomas Argles 

1708. 
Thomas Argles 
Wiiliam Darby 

1709. 
William Darby 
Thomas Hasell 

1710. 
William Darby 
Thomas Hasell 
Jonathan Weldish 
Thomas Knight 

1711. 
Jonathan Weldish 
Thomas Knight 
George Green 
John Horsnail 

1712. 
George Green 
John Horsnail 
John Hartridge 
Thomas Hall 

1713. 
John Hartridge 
Thomas Hall 
Gerge Archer 
George Ashley 



201 



1714. 

George Ashley 
George Archer 
John Weekes 
Robert Beal 

1715. 
John Weekes 
Robert Beal 
Richard Flint 
William Newton 

1716. 
Richard Flint 
William Newton 
Edward Hunter 
Andrew Stevenson 

1717. 
Edward Hunter 
Andrew Stevenson 
Samuel Hollister 
Richard Edmonds 

1718. 
Samuel Hollister 
Richard Edmonds 
Samuel Stevenson 
John Greenhill 

1719. 
Samuel Stevenson 
John Greenhill 
Robert Dawson 
Robert Salmon 

Bl 



1720. 
Robert Dawson 
Robert Salmon 
James Bishopp 
John Callant 

1721. 
James Bishopp 
John Callant 
Richard Tibbe 
William Greene 

1722. 
William Greene 
Thomas Lake 
James Weekes 
Joseph Smalvell 

1723. 
James Weekes 
Joseph Smalvell 
Nicholas Jordan 
William Russell 

1724. 
John Blamire 
James Appleton 

1725. 
Walter Francklyne 
William Cruttenden 

1726. 
Robert Newnham 
Robert Smith 



202 



1727. 
Thomas Wyden 
William Russell 

1728. 
John Willard 
William Purliss 

1729. 
John Adams 
Thomas Lee 

1730. 
Thomas Pope 
Morgan Hall 

1731. 
Nicholas Rawlings 
Thomas Pope 

1732. 
Thomas Bromfield 
Thomas Porter 

1733. 
Thomas Nightingale 
Thomas Baytop 

1734. 
Edward Chambers 
William R-ogers 

1735. 
Henry Jeffreys 
Samuel Stevenson 



1736. 

Thomas Argles 
Thomas Rhodes 
Thomas Pope 
Daniel Kirby 

1737. 
Thomas Pope 
Daniel Kirby 
Thomas Edwards 
James Baxter 

1738. 
Thomas Edwards 
James Baxter 
Richard Polhill 
Thomas Wildes 

1739. 
Richard Polhill 
Thomas Wildes 
Thomas Lake 
Simon Goldwell 

1740. 
Thomas Lake 
Simon Goldwell 
Thomas Stevenson 
Caleb Jemmet 

1741. 
Thomas Stevenson 
Caleb Jemmet 
Daniel Love 
Richard Holloway 



203 



1742. 
Daniel Love 
Richard Hollo way- 
Tobias Hammond 
Joseph Durrant 

1743. 
Tobias Hammond 
Joseph Durrant 
William Tempest 
Robert Lacy 

1744. 
William Tempest 
Robert Lacy 
David Polhill 
John Alexander 

1745. 
David Polhill 
John Alexander 
John Pope 
William Stacey 

1746. 
John Pope 
William Stacey 
Walter Widen 
Edward Argles 

1747. 
Walter Widen 
Edward Argles 
Edward Goseling 
Peter Seale 



1748. 
Edward Goseling 
Peter Seale 
William Waller 
Henry Pocock 

1749. 
William Waller 
Henry Pocock 
John Morden 
James Rayner 

1750. 
John Morden 
James Rayner 
Henry Tilbee 
William Poole 

1751. 
Henry Tilbee 
William Poole 
Edward Ellis 
John Hollingworth 

1752. 
Edward Ellis 
John Hollingworth 
Edward Dennis 
William Mercer 

1753. 
Edward Dennis 
William Mercer 
George May 
William Davis 



204 



1754. 
George May 
William Davis 
James Burr 
John Reeve 

1755. 
James Burr 
John Reeve 
James Stonehouse 
Robert Pope 

1756. 
James Stoneham 
Robert Pope 
Edward Watkins 
George Bishop 

1757. 
Edward Watkins 
George Bishop 
John Rhodes 
William Wrentmore 

1758. ' 
John Rhodes 
William Wrentmore 
John Brenchley 
Thomas Pope, Jun. 

1759. 
John Brenchley 
Thomas Pope, Jun. 
Robert Spencer # 
John Groombridge 



1760. 
Robert Spencer 
John Groombridge 
John Stubbersfield 
Richard Wattell 

1761. 
John Stubbersfield 
Richard Wattell 
William Read 
William Purliss 

1762. 
William Read 
William Purliss 
Thomas Argles 
Jacob Stone 

1763. 
Thomas Argles 
Jacob Stone 
Tobias Hammond 
William Goar 

1764. 
Tobias Hammond 
William Goar 
Abraham Cherry 
James Brattle 

1765. 
Abraham Cherry 
James Brattle 
Francis Molley, jun. 
John Green 



205 



1766. 
Francis Molley, jun. 
John Green 
Henry Cutbush 
George West 

1767. 
Henry Cutbush 
George West 
John Elvy 
Richard Gammon 

1768. 
John Elvy 
Richard Gammon 
Edward Argles, jun. 
John Hills 

1769. 
Edward Argles, jun. 
John Hills 
John Seager 
Henry Alexander 

1770. 
John Seager 
Henry Alexander 
Samuel Giles 
William JefFerys 

1771. 
Samuel Giles 
William Jefferys 
Robert Edmeads 
John Godden 



1772. 

Robert Edmeads 
John Godden 
Robert Corrall 
Robert Pope 

1773. 
Robert Corrall 
Robert Pope 
John Hollingworth 
John Seager 

1774. 
John Hollingworth 
John Seager 
Tobias Hammond 
Samuel Chambers 

1775. 
Tobias Hammond 
Samuel Chambers 
William Addison 
John Homewood 

1776. 
William Addison 
John Homewood 
Richard Mercer 
Walter Stunt 

1777. 
Richard Mercer 
Walter Stunt 
Edward Ellis, jun. 
Thomas Poole 



1206 



1778. 
Edward Ellis 
Thomas Poole 
John King 
Joseph Sawer 

1779. 
John King 
Joseph Sawer 
William Penwall 
John Smythe 

1780. 
William Penwall 
John Smythe 
John King 
Joseph Sawer 

1781. 
John King 
Joseph Sawer 
Robert Pope 
Robert Corrall 

1782. 
Robert Pope 
John Seager 
Richard Hollo way 
Henry Ellis 

1783. 
Henry Ellis 
John Seager 
Christopher Fidge 
John Tyrrell 



1784. 

Christopher Fidge 
John Tyrrell 
John Oliver 
John Springe t 

1785. 
John Oliver 
John Springet 
Richard Gammon 
Flint Stacey 

1786. 
Richard Gammon 
Flint Stacey 
John Hills 
Elias Honey 

1787. 
John Hills 
Elias Honey 
George Hopkins 
John Cooke 

1788. 
George Hopkins 
John Cooke 
Stephen Seager 
Finch Holling worth 

1789. 
Stephen Seager 
Finch Hollingworth 
John Elvy 
William Cousins 



207 



1790. 
John Elvy 
William Cousins 
Edward ] Argles 
James ]Smy the 
" 1791. 
Edward Argles 
James Smythe 
George May 
James Honey 

1792. 
George May 
James Honey 
William Browne 
William Spratt 

1793. 
William Browne 
William Spratt 
Squire Bath 
Thomas Alexander 

1794. 
Squire Bath 
Thomas Alexander 
Charles Beaumont 
James Poole 

1795. 
Charles Beaumont 
James Poole 
Henry Cutbush 
Robert Heathorne 



1796. 
Henry Cutbush 
Robert Heathorne 
Samuel Athawes 
Thomas Atkins 

1797. 
John Wise 
Thomas Atkins - 
Thomas ^Cutbush 
Thomas Hyde 

1798. 
Thomas Cutbush 
Thomas Hyde 
William Archer 
Joseph Martin 

1799. 
William Archer 
Joseph Martin 
Argles Bishop 
John Crowder 

1800. 
Argles Bishop 
John Crowder 
James Collings 
Samuel Giles 

1801. 
James Collings 
Samuel Giles 
John Down 
John Wimble 



208 



1802. 
John Downe 
John Wimble 
Samuel Wilkins 
Thomas Honey 
(died in Dec, succeeded by) 
John Hughes 

1803. 
Samuel Wilkins 
John Hughes 
Thomas Reader 
John Lane 

1804. 
Thomas Reader 
John Lane 
Samuel Wilkins 
Thomas Tassell 

1805. 
Samuel Wilkins 
Thomas Tassell 
John Tanner 
James Potter 

1806. 
John Tanner 
James Potter 
John Ruck 
William Sasre 



1807. 
John Ruck 
William Sage 
William Cutbush 
William Overy 

1808. 
William Cutbush 
William Overy 
Henry Jury 
Edwin Burgess 

1809. 
Henry Jury 
Edwin Burgess 
Benjamin Tanner 
William Bens ted 

1810. 
Benjamin Tanner 
William Bensted 
Samuel Pettit 
Thomas Sweetlove 

1811. 
Samuel Pettit 
Thomas Sweetlove 
Benjamin Tanner 
William Sweetlove 

1812. 
Benjamin Tanner 
William Bensted 
John Argles 
Joseph Simmonds 



201) 



1813. 
John Argles 
Joseph Simmonds 
James Watts 
John Chaplin 

1814. 
James Watts 
John Chaplin 
Thomas Carter 
Henry Collis 

1815. 
Thomas Carter 
Henry Collis 
Richard Cardin 
John Sage 

1816. 
Richard Cardin 
John Sage 
John Mortimer 
Thomas Hills 

1817. 
John Mortimer 
Thomas Hills 
John Mercer 
John H. Pack 
1818. 
Robert Tassell, Jun. 
John Mercer 



b2 



1819. 
Robert Tassell 
James Bunyard 

1820. 
John Jarratt 
George Burgess 

1821. 
John Jarrett 
James Sutton 

1822. 
Thomas Tassell 
John Smith 

1823. 
Thomas Tassell 
John Gurney 

1824. 
Thomas Edmett 
Thomas Pybus 

1825. 
Thomas Mercer 
Edward Mason 

1826. 
Thomas Mercer 
Walter Hills 

1827. 
Henry Cutbush 
Thomas Hyde, Jun. 

1828 
Henry Cutbush 
James Oliver 



210 



1829. 
James Oliver 
George Rachell 

1830. 
James Oliver 
Richard Sharp 

1831. 
Robert Cutbush 
Henry Godden 

1832. 
Joseph Poole 
Thomas Willcocks 

1833. 
Benjamin Ruck 
William Crondall 

1834. 
Charles Simmonds 
Thomas W. Allen 

1835. 
Henry Wimble 
John Cutbush 
(Died in September, and suc- 
ceeded by) 

George Jury 

1836. 
Richard Read Spencer 
Thomas Potts 

1837. 
Thomas Potts 
William Srnythe 



1838, 
Henry Argles 
Thomas Laurence 

1839. 
Henry Argles 
Thomas Laurence 

1840. 
Edward Wimble 
James Betts 

1841. 
William Masters 
William Haynes 

1842. 
James Clifford 
John Watts 

1843. 
Thomas Tassell, jun. 
Isaac Warwick 

1844. 
Thomas Tassell 
George Spencer 

1845. 
Edward Pickard Hall 
Ambrose Austen 

1846. 
Frederick Scudamore 
Charles Arkcoll 

1847. 
Joseph Tootell 
Henry Simmonds, Jun. 



211 



1848. 


1857. 


Henry Simmonds 


Robert Rugg 


John Sutton 


Edward Watts 


(died during office, and suc- 


1858.* 


ceeded by) 


Robert Rugg 


Edward R. Tanner 


Horace Cutbush 


1849. 


1859. 


Edward R. Tanner 


Robert W. Hazell 


Henry Wright 


George Paine 


1850. 


1860. 


John Hyde Hills 


Robert W. Hazell 


Robert Tassell 


William Bryant 


1851. 


1861. 


John Hyde Hills 


Robert Rugg 


Thomas Clayton 


George Hulburd 


1852. 


1862. 


John Marsh 


Arthur Joslen 


James B. Tolputt 


Robert Foord 


1853. 


1863, 


William Wickham 


Thos. Goland Stonham 


Tom Oakley 


James Hyles 


1854. 


1864. 


John Holmes 


Thos. Goland Stonham 


Frederic W. Cutbush 


William Betts 


1855. 


1865. 


Robert Rugg 


John Wm. G. Simpson 


James Clifford 


William Semark 


1856. 


1866. 


Robert Rugg 


John Wm. G. Simpson 


John Smvthe 


Thos. Worvill Burkett 



212 



Payments made by the Churchwardens of Maidstone, 
extracted from their accounts : — 

• £ s. d. 

1672 Mr. Weston, at ye Bell 4 6 

Henry Harbley, at the Bull 5 6 

1676 Going ye Bounds 6 

Pulling do wne ye Vestry Chamber 2 

To the Carpenters when they raised the 

beame 3 

John Eawlings, for helping the Plumber 

4 d ayes 8 

Paid the Plumber 30 

Carrying 5 loads of leads to the Church 7 6 

Carrying the leads into the Church 6 4 

Getting the leads upon the Church 4 4 

Carrying the lead of the Steple to the 

plumbers 3 4 

George Peirce, paid for various altera- 
tions 135 13 6 

Paid Mr. Tapley for painting the Gallary 11 

Gold for the Gallary 3 8 4 

Eobert Brooke, for Iron Workes 18 10 6 

Eobert Evenden, for 100 deals and worke 12 6 

1677 New lining the Tippett 9 6 

1678 Visitations and Perambulations 8 

Mr. Hodson, casting the Great Bell and 

new hanging the six bells 47 8 4 

1681 For the hyre of a Chayre, and earring to 

Church and back again 1 6 

Mrs. Davies, for ye Bishop's Lodgins 1 10 

Jervase Scot, for painting the King's Armes 1 14 

Wire for the Chimes 1 3 

Goody Cutbush, for worke donn in ye 

Church 1 6 



213 

£ s. <L 

1682 Mending the Church gatt, and a wooden 

window in the leads 1 

For the great Bell clapper 3 10 

1683 G-oodman Clupper, for goeing to Holling- 

borne about the Bell 1. 

Received in Court for ye Church 6 3 1^ 

Mending the Cushin in Mr. Maior's pew 2 6- 

Cleaning the engines and setting them upp 4 6 
Getting the engines out and in, and trying 

them 3 6 

1686 Abated Sir Thomas Taylor of his sesses 

by ye rouseult of ye Maior 2 6 

1688 Mr. Pressmill, for mending Clocke and 

Chimes 1 16 10 

1692 Reading prayers, Christenings and Burials 

for 3 days 13 

1693 Mending the Judge's Cushion 1 

1715 Ye forme of Prayer for Thanksgiving ... 2 6 

Searching ye Church Ty rubers 6 

Charges at ye fire in ye Church 2 

Spent at ye Starr after ye fire 2 

Spent at ye Bull for drink after ye fire ... 4 

1716 Spent at moving ye Pulpit 2 

Will Wyden and Company to drink at 

Inspecting the Roofs of ye Church 2 

Mr. Wyden, in part moving the Pulpitt... 1 10 

1717 2J yards of Druged and 10 yds. of Gulloon, 

to line some part of Mr. Wellar's Pew 7 6 
Will Wyden, for mending the Midwives' 

Pew 1 6 

1718 A Gown for Rob May 2 

Will Dairies, for new boarding the Yestry 14 15 

1719 Spent at meeting Mr. Wellar at the Starr 3 Q 



214 

£ s. d. 

1719 54 Bullfinches' heads, for Mr. Mayor's 

dinner 4 6 

1720 For a Beadle's Hatt 10 

Pd. at the Starr for myself and Mr. Daw- 
son at Consulting about the Church 

Clock ... 4 

1721 Journey to Ashford, to wait on the Com- 

misary about new roofing the Church... 16 

For a Faculty 10 

Paid at signing the articles with Mr. 

Phelps about new casting the Bells 7 6 

Gave men to drink in earring the Dial to 

the Church 1 

For 6 men that went down to Hailing to 

fetch the bells up 10 

For a Sledge 12 6 

Beer for Watermen helping the Bells 10 

Seeing the Bells weighed 12 6 

» Mr. Phelps, the founder 30 

1722 Putting in stands to bear up the Dyall ... 17 
Mending the Ingeons 5 9 6 

1723 When the Ingeons were played 15 

1724 Paid at looking over the Steeple 1 

1725 Spent at the Bull on three Plumbers sur- 

veying the Steeple 2 

1728 Mr. Phelps, in full 16 5 6 

Paid as per bill about the Yew Tree 18 8 

May 28, Bounds breakfast 15 

Ye Ribbons 5 6 

Ferrying over ye river 1 6 

To ye Boys 5 

A man for marking ye Bounds... 2 6 

Expense of that day 9 



215 

£ s. (L 
1723 Will Mercer for getting out ye great 
engine out of Mr. Newnham's yard, and 
putting it into Mr. Weekes, and play- 
ing the same 10 

Robert Giles for things brought from the 
Market-house, and carrying them back 
again, they being for ye use of the 

Bishop 2 6 

1730 Nov. 2, paid to several persons that as- 
sisted • in extinguishing the 

fire 1 11 

Colonel Gage's man for bringing 

the Engine 6 

Paid at the Starr at calling in the 

Bills 5 

Putting out the lead ashes 4 6 

Cleaning the Church after the 

fire 8 

Shoulder of Mutton for the Men 

that Watched 2 4 

To Men and Women for clearing 

and carrying home the Tubbs. 10 
In getting out ye Lead out of 
Church, and putting it in ye 
Wagon and allowance for ye 

Wagoners 5 fr 

Mr. Greene for goods had at the 

Church when the fire was 12 

Mills for cleaning the Steple, and 

putting up the Lead Ashes 3 6 

Expencesof playing the Engines. 7 

1737 William Gills for altering Chimes,...,. .. 6 6 2 
For Pipes and Tobacco at meeting ye 

Archbishop , 2 6 



216 

£ s. d. 
1738 Advertising Books that were lost in " St. 

James' Evening Past" 3 9 

Ditto in <' Canterbury News " 3 6 

1742 The Beadle's Coat 5 8 1 

1743 Ringing for the Victory of Dettingen 10 

1745 Ringing the Bells on the News the Rebels 

were running away 10 

1746 Rining the Bells at ye Rebels defeat 10 

1747 The Ringers at taking ye French man of 

warr 10 

1749 Cleaning the Organ Curtains 2 6 

1750 Mr. Jordan for tuning and cleaning the 

Organ 5 5 

1755 Mr. Crang for cleaning and repairing the 

Organ 8 8 

1760 Mr. John Crang's Bill for cleaning the 

Organ 8 8 

1762 For killing the Rats in the Church 2 6 

Jannaway's Bill for the Tenor Bell 49 

1765 Mr. Craing's Bill for repairing and making 

additions to the Organ 52 17 

17G8 Mr. Cabball for cleaning the Library 10 

1770 Mr. Crang for cleaning the Organ 8 8 

1784 William Mears on account of Bells 150 

1785 Humphrey Argent for cleaning and repair- 

ing Organ 6 6 

1787 Robert Cutbush for looking after the 

Clock 4 8 

Carriage of Bells from London 7 14 

1790 Oct. 13, Mr. James Hancock, as per Bill 

for Organ 10 10 

. (Mr. Hancock, " Organ Builder, of 
Wych-street, London," who had been 
employed for some time in superintend- 



217 

£ s. d. 
ing the repairs and additions to the 
Organ, died very suddenly near the 
town, in January, 1792.) 

1792 J. Schultz for wires to Organ 3 3 

J. Schultz for work to Organ during the 

alterations of Hoof 50 

Ditto for work to Organ 44 10 

Mr. May for ditto 33 7 6 



ORGANISTS OF THE PARISH CHURCH OF 
MAIDSTONE. 

John Powell A.D. 1564 

John Andrews , 1567 

Thomas Lilly 1576 

Peter Maylam 1590 

George Launder, elected 1747 

Bartholomew Davis 1795 

Edward Sanders 1 797 

John C. Hoadly 1845 

Charles Jennings 1850 

Walter B. Gilbert, Mus.B. 1858 

Henry Streatfield 1865 



Obit .... 


1795 


Obit 


1797 


Obit .... 


1845 


Obit 


1850 


Res. Sept. 


1858 


Res. Dec. 


1865 



PARISH CLERKS. 

Robert Harris ... 1558 

John Ward 1560 

Stephen Austen 1580 

John Mylles s . 1583 

Steven Austen 1588 

— Bartholomew 1590 

c2 



218 

James Hoads ] 595 

Lyford (also Usher of the Free School). 1599 

Henry West 1610 

William Carr 1616 . 

— Willys 1619 

After Willys, we are told that Mr. Barrell had 

" at several ty rues appointed eight or nine clarkes, 
" and again displaced them to their great dislike." 

Clement Whiting 1660 

Edward Knight 1675 

John Barrington 1720 

Richard Wattell 1738 

JohnCabbell died 1771 

EichardFile ; 1782 

Eichard Martin..; died 1835 

James Ruck died 1854 

SEXTONS. 

William CoUett 1548 

John Wood 1559 

William Hodges 1570 

HenryTylden 1578 

Gabriel Knight , 1607 

Thomas Squire 1630 

William Crowherst 1640 

Thomas Wilkins , 1644 

John Lambe 1690 

Robert Webbe 1707 

Robert May . . . . , , 1713 



219 

John Rawlings 1730 

Nicholas Rawlings 1757 

Robert Tassell 1791 

John Diprose „ 1817 

James Ransley 1848 




CHAPTER XX. 

Collections in the Church; Registers; Remarkable extracts 
from the Registers. 



COLLECTIONS IN MAIDSTONE CHURCH. 

Accounts of many of the Collections have been 
preserved. Those for objects not connected with 
Maidstone were generally by Brief, which authorised 
a collection for the purposes named therein, and al- 
though the sums gathered in each Church were not 
in themselves large, yet the total from many parishes 
must have been considerable. 

The objects for which Brief collections were some- 
times made will appear very extraordinary'; for 
instance, at Longborough, Lincolnshire, in the year 
1683, a gathering by Brief was made in the Church 
for "rebuilding the Theatre Royal, in London" 
And a curious instance occurs in the registers of 
Linton, near Maidstone, where it is mentioned that 
the sum of three shilling and tenpence was collected 
for one "Phillip Dandale, ye Turke made a 
a Christian." 

SOME OF THE BRIEF 'COLLECTIONS. 

1667 For Inhabitants of Northchurch, Herts ... 1 2 

1668 Bradninch, Devon 1 9 6 

1669 County of Middlesex 15 8 

Redemption of Captives out of Algiers ... 1 4 



221 

1670 Mariners redeemed out of Slavery 1 2 6 

1677 Inhabitants of Topsharn, Devon 1 9 10£. 

1679 Beraiondsey, Surrey 1 11 4 

Towards the Charity of Ann Botching, of 

Dover 15 8 

1680 Redemption of Slaves in Algiers 30 5 5^ 

1681 Parish of East Peckham 115 10 

1682 For Poland 8 2 2 

Town of Staff Q rd '. 1 10 9 

Collumpton 1 12 

1683 Inhabitants of Windsor 17 9 

London 15 7 

Fire in Southwark 2 2 

1681 Bradnineh, Devon 15 

1685 Portsmouth 14 

1686 Relief of French Protestants 63 11 4 

1687 Belief of Ditto 24 10 8 

1689 Relief of Irish Protestants 64 15 

1690 Ditto 36 13 

East Smithfield 3 G 

1691 St. George's, Southwark 10 

1692 Teignmouth, Devon 5 18 

Redemption of Captives 23 19 10 

1693 Town of Ledbury 1 15 2 

1699 Relief of ye Yaudois 46 5 2 

1702 Rye Church 1 11 6 

1703 Fire at Ely 14 6 

1706 All Saints' Church, Oxford 3 17 

1820 Fire at Meesh all, Salop 16 6 

Fire at Charley Moor, Lancaster 11 

1821 Fire at Upton, Chester 5 

Walsall Church 6 G 

1822 All Saints Church, Wainfleet, Lincoln ... 5 
Frant Church, Sussex 5 



222 

1823 Sutton Vallate Church 12 

1825 All Saints' Church, Wainfieet 5 6 

Sutton Yallance Church 16 

1826 Fire at Delworth, Lancaster 8 

Fire at Walton-upon-Thames 12 6 

The last collection made by "brief" in Maidstone 
Church was on the eleventh of May, 1828, when the 
sum of 9s. 6d. was subscribed for the fire at Ingold- 
mills, Lincoln. Thirteen or fourteen of these 
" brief" collections were generally made each year. 



THE EEGISTERS. 

The Registers of Maidstone Church are, perhaps, 
as perfect as any to be found. Shortly after the 
accession of Queen Mary they w^re discontinued, 
but at the commencement of Elizabeth's reign they 
were resumed. 

Parish Registers, according to Prideaux, Burnet, 
Kennett, Stow, and others, were ordered to be kept 
in the year 1538. The injunctions to the Clergy of 
September, 1538, state that " every parson, vicar, or 
" curate for every Church shall keep one Book or 
" Register, wherein he shall write the day and year 
"of every Wedding, Christening, and Burial," 
"which Book ye shall every Sunday take forth, 
" and, in the presence of the Wardens or one of 
" them, write and record in the same all the 
" Weddings, Christenings, and Burials made the 
"week before." A similar injunction was also 



223 

issued by Edward VI. in 1547, and in I557 Cardinal 
Pole enquired of the Clergy of the Diocese of 
Canterbury u whether they do keep the Book or 
" Register of Christenings, Burials, and Marriages, 
w with the name of the Godfather and Godmother." 
The Maidstone Registers were commenced by Sir 
John Porter, the parish priest, in the year 1542, 
some years before the suppression of the College. 
The title of the first volume is 

" The Regystre off the Ccllegyate Ghurche off All 
" Saynts in Maydeston, in the wiche be wry tten and 
"contayned all and syngular, as well the proper 
"names as the surnames of them that have be 
" Wedded, Christened, and Buryed within the sayed 
" parysche, frome the third day off September, in the 
" xxxiiij yeare of the reygne off the moste excellent 
" Prynce Henry by the Grace of God Kynge off 
" Englande, off France, and off Ireland, and in erthe 
"supreme head, under Christ, off the Church off 
" England and Ireland." 

That part of the book in Porter's writing is beau- 
tifully written, and commences with 

" From the third day of September to the seventh day 
" of the same month, none were wedded. 

" By me, Sir John Porter, parish priest, in the presence 
u of Richard Bass, one of the Churchwardens." 

Seven of these singular entries follow, and then 
the first marriage is registered, viz., George Mylles 
and Margaret Potlyn, on the twentieth of October. 

Strype, in his Annals of the Reformation, men- 
tions the Maidstone Register in terms of praise. 



224 

REMARKABLE EXTRACTS FROM THE MAID- 
STONE REGISTERS. 
BAPTISMS. 

1543 Nov. 28, Robert Gunsley, 

A Maidstone benefactor, died incumbent of Titsey, Surrey, 
Nov. ii, 1618. 

1562 Mar. 23, Katherine Nobodye. 

1571 Dec. 16, the same daye was baptised John Bucke- 
man, son of Chrystian Buckeman, in the 
Dutch Church in this Towne. 

1576 Orphan t, Forsaken, the childe of Lettie 

Shipman, never married. 

1594 April 5, Robert Flud, son of Christopher Flud, 

The celebrated Eobertus Fludicus, died 1637, and buried 
at Bearsted Church. 

1605 March 13, Richard Harrison, son of Richard Harrison, 
a prisoner in Maidstone G-oale, and borne 
at Bucklandj in the barne of Simon 
Smythe, Gent. 

1615 Oct. 15, George Jonson, born in barne, patre ignot. 

1618 Nov. 6, Francis Astlie, or Ashlie, son of Sir John 
Astiie, or Ashlie, Knight. 

1621 July 8, Anne, daughter of William Dunning, Free- 
mason. 

1632 Feb. 10, Robert, son of ^Thomas Rowland, born 1st 
day, baptized 10th. 
A Maidstone benefactor, died 1707. 

1644 April, Benjamin, the son of Mr. Samuel Smith, 
preacher of the Word of God att this 
Towne and Elizabeth his wife. 

1687 Aug. ye 2nd, John, the son of Humphrey Lynde, 
Minister of Maidstone, and Elizabeth, his 
wife. He was borne ye 26 day of July, 
between one and two in the morneing, 
1687. 



225 

July 19, Elizabeth, daughter of William Whetstone, 
and Mary, his wife, and about ye latter 
end of January nest she is nineteen yeers 
old. 

1717 Elizabeth Maidstone, a foundling. 

1718 David Maidstone, a foundling-. 

173 1 Paraclice, a foundling female child. 

1735 Aug. 31, William, son of Phillip and Ann Woollett 
The engraver. 

MARRIAGES. 

15 A3 April 11, Walter Appleby to Petronal Spencer, 
(See page 71.) 

1591 July — , Wynpresse Farrando to Joane Thomas. 

1G13 July 13, at Loose, by Mr. Robert Carr, preacher, of 
Maidstone, Thomas Bresland, of Staple- 
hurst, tanner, and Margaret Swynhogge, 
daughter of Thomas Swynhogge. 
This is curious, as recording a marriage which did not 
take place in Maidstone. 

1618 Nov. 2, Henry Fisher, gent., to Mrs. Anne Clarke. 
of Offium (Off ham), by lisecense out of 
the Arches, att Allington. 

1699 John Palmer and Anne Adams, a Stranger, 

at ye keeper's house at the G-aole, by order 
of the Mayor and Justices. 

1712 James Jenning, married by order of the 

Justices, to Mary Theobalds. 

BURIALS. 
1 542 May 6, Sir William Wyrpet . 
1513 Oct. 6, Oly ver de Preyse. 
1545 Nov. 1, Sir John Breade. 
1516 Sir John Packe. 

1519 May 27, Sir Thomas Pyne. 
d2 



226 

The above with the prefix of Sir, were priests connected 
with the college. 
1549 The 15fch of Julye, ye wycar of Marden was buryed. 
1558 Aug. 26, A Strange Woman. 
1558 Dec. 6, A poor Woman. 
1561 July 24, William Tilden. 

Tilden, " ye draper," concerned in Wyatt's rebellion. 

1567 March 5, Alic, a Stranger, dyed atBucland, sudanlye. 

1568 Sept. 23, William Smythe, gent, Jurat of Maidstone. 
Oct. 23, John Halle, the Surgian, 

Implicated in Wyatt's reb ellion. 

1569 Dec. 28, William Greene, sometime Major of Maid- 

stone ; 
Also concerned in Wyatt's rebellion. 
1569 July 17, Five Egyptians, as by their names, to say 
John Ffolentyn, 
James Ffolentyn, 
Nicolas Ffare, 
David Ffare, 
William Plom worthy. 
1573 Dec. 26, Eichard Lee, Esquire, 

Deceasing Maior. 

1576 Sept. 19, An Orphant, forsaken, a son. 

1577 Sept. 6, Stranger to this parish, deceased in Jack- . 

son's Widdowe's howst, carried thither 
from Thomas Alphe's home. 

1579 May 12, Henri Lambe, son of Henri Lambe, late of 
Sutton Vallance. 

1589 Feb. 1, Elkenna, wife to the Dutch Minister. 

1591 May 6, Bright, a Saltpetre man. 

1592 Jan. 8, Anthonius de Sanctuilia Nobilis regni Maiori- 

carr Capitani Brabantineru. 
Feb. 26, George Langley, which in his last Will and 
testament did give his tenement, a howst, 



with the garden adioying to the howst 
nowe of Mr. Thomas Bealle, one of the 
Jurats of this Towne, in East Lane, to be 
sold to make a stocke to set the poore a 
worke for ever. 
1506 Aug. 5, Mr. John Ashlie, Esquire, myster of hir 
maiesties Jewell Howst. 

1598 Dee. 8, Woman died in Bucland barne. 

1599 Sept. 3, G-eorge Manningam, Jurate, 

A Maidstone benefactor. 

1602 June 27, Eobsrt Newstreet, butcher of Langley, that 
died of a knock of a stone, cast by one 
Mayney, at Town Sutton, the 14th daie 
of this month. 

1609 Sept. 15, John Stooke, his age 100 years. 

1609 Dec. 11, Thomas Bryante, son of Arthur Bryante, 

his dwelling was in Barkshire. 

1610 March 1, Gilbert Dode, in the parish of Brooke, he 

came to the asyse to Maidstone, and dyed 
in the houst of Edward Kemp. 

1616 July 30, Avis Somerlish, widow, aged 102. 

1617 Sept. 22, John Duckett, soldier of St. Margarets, in 

Westminster, neere London, and came for 

his pension, and fell sicke and died heere. 
1619 Dec. 21, Laurence Washington, Esq. 

A Great Uncle of the celebrated Washington. 
1625 June 25, Ann Nash, of the age of 106 years. 
1633 June 8, Ambrose, a bricklayer, a stranger, killed at 

Buclancl, by a fall from a scaffold. 
1638 Nov. 16, A Stranger, whose name we know not, died 

upon the way, beiug very poore. 

1611 Sept. 27, A travelling youth, whose name we could 

not know. 

1618 Aug- 7, A stranger, whose name we knew not, 



228 

1652 March 5, Elizabeth, wife of Richard Bright, of the 

Common Garden, London. 
1658 May 27, Captn. Philip Morris, gent., livetenant in 

. Colonell G-ibbons' Regiint. of foote. 
1667 July 3, Jane Knight, Spinster at pest house, plague . 
Elizabeth Knight, Spinster at pest house? 
plague. 
Mar. 11, "William Wilson, of the Goale of Maid- 
stone, disected. 
1691 Eeb. 16, Thomas Haley, shot for deserting. 
1703 Oct. 21, The exposed child. 
1706 June 7, Mrs. Joan Heath, aged 101 years and 6 

months. 
1713 Aug. 26, Item, a Stranger, a woman. 
1742 Aug. 18, William Hodges, aged 101. 

1755 April 11, Mr. Robert Beale, aged 101. 

1756 May 12, Francis Dordelin, one of the French 

prisoners. 
Oct. 8, Interred the few remains of Elizabeth 
Langley, widow, and of her daughter 
Elizabeth, not reduced to ashes by the 
fire wherein they both perished, the third 
of this instant. v 

Transcripts of the Registers are preserved in the 
Archbishop's archives. Some years since the Com- 
mittee of Privileges of the House of Lords, not 
being satisfied with the appearance of the Maidstone 
Register for the year 1603, then brought forward as 
evidence, required the Archbishop's copy to be pro- 
duced. It was, however, found to correspond. It 
was also stated that an Index had been made of all 
the names mentioned in the Maidstone Registers 



229 

from the year 1732 to 1829, and the custom was 
that when the clergyman made an entry in the 
Register, a reference was always made to it in the 
proper Index. This excellent plan is still continued. 

NOTE. 

Page 133. — Some particulars respecting Andrew 
Broughton are given in the " Antiquities of Maid- 
stone," page 144. The following important addi- 
tional information has been kindly furnished by 
Mr. Edward Hughes, who now resides in the house 
built by Broughton, in Earl-street (No. 31) : — 

By Indenture, 18th Dec., 1663 (15 Chas. II.), between 
James, Duke of York, John, Lord Berkely, of Stratton, 
Charles, Lord Berkely Viscount Fitzhardinge, and Henry 
Brouncker, Esq., one part, and John Greenhill, of New 
Sarum, in the county of Wilts, Esq., of the other part, 
Reciting that by an Act of Parliament made 25th April, in 
the 12th year of his then Majesty, the estates real and per- 
sonal of certain offenders who had murthered King Charles 
the First were ordered to be forfeited to the King, his heirs 
and successors, and vested in him without any office or 
inquisition thereof to be found ; of which persons Andrew 
Broughton, late of Maidstone, in Kent, was one, and that 
the said King's Majesty, being seized by the said Act of the 
estate of the said Broughton, had been pleased by his letters 
patent, dated 6th Sept., in the 13th year of his reign, to grant 
the same to the said John, Lord Berkely, Charles, Lord Vis- 
count Fitzhardinge, by the name of Sir Charles Berkely the 
younger, Knt., and Heniy Brouncker, Esq., in trust for the 
said Duke of York and his heirs. It was witnessed that 



230 

the said Duke of York, in consideration of £247 10s. to 
hirn paid by the said G-reenhill, and the said Berkely, Fitz- 
hardinge, and Brouncker, by direction of the said Duke, 
conveyed unto the said G-reenhill all that capital messuage 
or mansion house, situate in a lane called Bullock-lane, in 
Maidstone aforesaid, late in the occupation of the said 
Andrew Broughton, together with the gardens, orchards, 
barns, stables, outhouses, and other appurtenances ; and 
also all those messuages or tenements therein described, 
with the appurtenances, situate in a lane called Pudding- 
lane, and in Padser or Padshole-lane, and certain parcels of 
land in the town, fields, and precincts of Maidstone afore- 
said, heretofore known, used, taken, and reputed to be the 
estate of the said Andrew Broughton, of which he was 
seized for the term of his life . 

By a deed poll, 23rd Feb., 1663 (16 Chas. II.), indorsed on 
the last abstracted deed under the hand of the said John 
G-reenhill, he, after reciting that the consideration money 
within mentioned was the proper money of Andrew 
Broughton, of Seaton, in Rutlandshire, Esq., son of the 
within-named Andrew Broughton, and that the said John 
Greenhill's name was only used in trust for the said Andrew 
Broughton the younger, the said Greenhill re-conveying the 
premises to the said Broughton the younger, and covenant- 
ing for his quiet enjoyment during the lifetime of the said 
Andrew Broughton the elder. 

By an abstract of a deed dated 1686, it transpires that 
£1,000 had been borrowed on the Pudding-lane property 
(perhaps to supply means to Broughton the father in his 
exile), and that Andrew Broughton, of Seaton (the son), 
held from the King the appointment of Receiver of Hearth 
Money. 



Printed at the Journal Ofilco, 2. Middle -row, Maidstone, 



! ! If 

A 1 



